Birthday (2022)

The Piano

When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited daughter to the wilderness of nineteenth-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her controlling husband and a rugged frontiersman to whom she develops a forbidden attraction.

Once Were Warriors

A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.

Pani's Box

A 10 year old girl escapes the grim reality of her situation by creating a world where all of her hopes and dreams come true.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?

Five years have passed and Jake has turned his back on his family. He's still up to his usual tricks in McClutchy's Bar, unaware, as he downs his latest opponent, that his eldest son, Nig, has died in a gang fight. The uncomfortable family reunion at Nig's funeral sparks a confrontation with second son, Sonny, and sets Jake and Sonny on a downward spiral.

The Silent One

A baby is washed up on a Pacific Island and is adopted by a childless woman. The tribal priest takes an instant dislike to the child, proclaiming him a demon. The child is deaf and mute and therefore excluded from hunting with the other young men. Out of loneliness, he befriends a white turtle. When a drought befalls the island, the priest blames the silent one. When the chief protects the boy, the priest plots the chiefs' downfall.

Exotica

In the upscale Toronto strip club Exotica, dancer Christina is visited nightly by the obsessive Francis, a depressed tax auditor. Her ex-boyfriend, the club's MC, Eric, still jealously pines for her even as he introduces her onstage, but Eric is having his own relationship problems with the club's female owner. Thomas, a mysterious pet-shop owner, is about to become unexpectedly involved in their lives.

Preludios de sol

ADAM IS A CLASSICAL MUSIC STUDENT WHO, AFTER LIVING HIS ENTIRE LIFE UNDER THE SHADOW OF HIS FATHER, IS ABOUT TO TAKE HIS FATHER'S TITLE OF THE YOUNGEST CONCERTIST IN HIS COUNTRY. BUT A SPONTANEOUS ILLNESS THREATENS TO LEAVE HIM WITHOUT HEARING AND TOGETHER WITH HIS BEST FRIEND, LUCHO, HE MUST DECIDE BETWEEN HIS HEALTH AND HIS GOAL OF BEATING HIS FATHER. ADAM SHOULD EVALUATE HIS PRIORITIES AND UNDERSTAND THAT HIS MUSIC AND PASSION REACHES BEYOND HIS RIVALRY WITH HIS FATHER.

Saudade

Plot unavailable

Crooked Earth

Will Bastion returns home from the army after an absence of 20 years to bury his father, the former chief of thee Maori tribe, Ngati Kaipuku. The eldest son, he is reluctant to inherit his fathers role, so it is taken more willingly by his younger brother, Kahu. Kahu is the leader of a band of drug dealers and trouble-makers who ride horses through the middle of town, wrecking peoples gardens. Under the guise of refusal of a land settlement, Kahu makes a large marijuana deal with some murdering city folk. Will must choose between loyalty for his brother and his father, Maori tradition, and contemporary financial issues.

Strength of a Woman

It follows Kendra who finds herself in a failing marriage and must deal with her life decisions. When Ben comes back into her life, she is backed into a crisis point and must dig deep to find the strength to take control of her life.

One Thousand Ropes

The father of a deeply troubled household that endured tragedy both from without and within, seeks to reconcile with his youngest daughter by making a journey to both symbolically and culturally lay the family "ghosts" to rest.

O Que Aconteceu com Catarina

Plot unavailable

Peckish

A young couple struggling with infertility seeks the aide of a healer with a promised remedy, while unknown forces also work to provide them with what they wish.

PSYCHÉ

Plot unavailable

Perfect Creature

The vampire myth is given a stylish 1960s treatment, where a human cop partners with a vampire cop to stop a vamp bent on creating a war between the two "separate but equal" races.

Rewind

Mary loves John for as long as she can remember. But after years of marriage, John's priorities shift, leading to a strained relationship with Mary, which causes a tragic accident that takes away Mary's life. Until one day, John gets an extraordinary proposition - to rewind time and save the life of the woman he loves.

Harlot's Prayer

Kiran, a Muslim woman who is trapped in promiscuity. This happened after she found a hard-line Islamic organization that was expected to sharpen her faith, instead deprived her of it.

The World's Fastest Indian

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

Anantaram

A young man narrates two conflicting accounts of his life, changing the details and incidents in both, as he slowly approaches madness.

In The Woods

Alice, a recently widowed director, is alone on her grief after her daughter leaves home. Alice clings to the only structure she has, a fragile foundation at risk of collapsing: an essay film project, about first loves, dependent on funding. Suddenly we enter in another dimension, another place and without prior notice we are in the film conceived by the director.

We Are Still Here

In a sweeping tale that spans 1000 years and multiple generations – from the distant past to the 19th century, the present day and a strange, dystopian future – this landmark collection traces the collective histories of Indigenous peoples across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Diverse in perspective, content and form, traversing the terrain of grief, love and dispossession, they each bear witness to these cultures’ ongoing struggles against patriarchy, colonialism and racism.

A Child Is Born

A pregnant prison inmate shares her problems with the patients in a maternity ward.

Inky Pinky Ponky

When a young fakaleiti falls in love at St Valentine’s Highschool, she must navigate her way through a world of intolerance and bigotry to find happiness - in an unexpected place.

And Then There Was You

Natalie and Joshua appear to be the picture-perfect couple, but looks can be deceiving. When Natalie discovers her husband has led a secret life, she is forced to deal with losing everything she loves. Newly divorced and soured on relationships, Natalie is picking up the pieces of her shattered world. In the process of healing, she meets a new man who challenges the boundaries of her trust and her ability to fall in love again.

Salaar: Part 1 - Ceasefire

Set in the fictional dystopian city-state of Khansaar, the film follows the friendship between Deva, a tribesman, and Varadha, the prince of Khansaar. When a coup d'état is planned by his father's ministers and his relatives, Varadha enlists Deva's help to become Khansaar's undisputed ruler.

Karma

After being kicked out her home for revealing a horrific family secret karma has no other choice but turning to the streets for survival!

Amrutham Gamaya

A doctor works in a clinic in a village run by his sister's father-in-law. When he meets a villager, he realises that he and his gang had ragged and murdered his son at the medical college's hostel.

Matador

A gritty drama focusing on Street Fighter's sociopathic and self-adoring Spanish ninja, Vega. Matador, details Claw's traumatic upbringing and the pivotal sequence of events that made him into the assassin he is today.

Alienated

Haunted by a terrifying encounter, a young man seeks out answers to confirm whether or not what he saw was real... Aliens.

Boy

Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.

Came a Hot Friday

Set in post-war (1949) rural New Zealand, this film traces the efforts of two con men to run a betting scam in a small town (Tainuea) already rife with illegal gambling corruption, and eccentricity.

An American Rhapsody

A Hungarian family forced to flee the Communist country for the United States must leave a young daughter behind. Six years later, the family arranges to bring the absent daughter to the United States where she has trouble adjusting. The daughter then decides to travel to Budapest to discover her identity.

Sleeping Dogs

Recluse Smith is drawn into a revolutionary struggle between guerrillas and right-wingers in New Zealand. Implicated in a murder and framed as a revolutionary conspirator, Smith tries to maintain an attitude of non-violence while caught between warring factions.

Stranger

Alex and Jesse, ex lovers, re-unite by chance one night and learn of all the changes that have occurred in their time apart. A character drama exploring the lasting intimacy, emotions and memories from an unraveled relationship.

I Need To Go To The Toilet

A young man shared how he dealt with his own daily problems with his community friends, but his problem got worse when he and his friends fought over to get into the toilet.

An Angel at My Table

Based on the autobiographical work of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, this production depicts the author at various stage of her life. Afflicted with mental and emotional issues, Frame grows up in an impoverished family and experiences numerous tragedies while still in her youth, including the deaths of two of her siblings. Portrayed as an adult by Kerry Fox, Frame finds acclaim for her writing while still in a mental institution, and her success helps her move on with her life.

Whale Rider

On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.

In My Father's Den

Paul (Macfadyen), a prize-winning war journalist, returns to his remote New Zealand hometown due to the death of his father, battle-scarred and world-weary. For the discontented sixteen-year-old Celia (Barclay) he opens up a world she has only dreamed of. She actively pursues a friendship with him, fascinated by his cynicism and experience of the world beyond her small-town existence. But many, including the members of both their families (Otto, Moy), frown upon the friendship and when Celia goes missing, Paul becomes the increasingly loathed and persecuted prime suspect in her disappearance. As the violent and urgent truth gradually emerges, Paul is forced to confront the family tragedy and betrayal that he ran from as a youth, and to face the grievous consequences of silence and secrecy that has surrounded his entire adult life.

Queen of the Ring

In a time when pro wrestling for women was illegal all over the country, a small town single mother embraces the danger to change culture as she dominates America's most masculine sport to become the first million dollar female athlete in history.

Two-Syllable Name

60-year-old seamstress Cida needs to sign a document at her workplace, but can't read what it says. With the help of her granddaughter's teacher, she becomes interested in literacy and, at the same time, starts questioning things that happen at her job.