Birthday (2022)

Smog

Thick, deadly smog blankets the globe, reducing visibility to less than a few metres. In a secluded farmhouse, a woman and her overbearing husband attempt to find resources and survive using a series of walking trails crafted from ropes and stakes. One night, the woman is alerted to the presence of someone or something else deep in the smog. Desperate to escape the farmhouse, the woman attempts to meet the unknown and risk everything to leave her loveless and abusive relationship behind.

Raids

Based on the treatment of Pacific Island families during the New Zealand Dawn Raids of the 1970’s, this short is an intimate look into a police raid, as told through the eyes of a young girl Losa and her father Lupematasila.

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.

Mistress, Mercy

This docu-drama dives beneath the sensational headlines to unravel the truth about a murder case that rocked New Zealand and catapulted teenage dominatrix Renee Chignell and cricket umpire Peter Plumley Walker into the national consciousness.

Processing...

A man attempts to operate a mysterious device, but with each attempt comes a new set of problems.

Wolf and Dog

Ana was born in São Miguel, an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean ruled by religion and traditions. Growing up as the middle child of a family of three with her mother and grandmother. Early Ana realized that girls and boys were given different tasks. Through her friendship with Luis, her queer best friend who loves dresses as much as pants, Ana questions the world that is promised to her. When her friend Cloé arrives from Canada, bringing with her the glowing days of youth, Ana embarks on a journey that will take her beyond the horizon.

Porcelain Horse

Paco Chavez's life is careless and charming. It's a life of illicit drugs and a forbidden love affair he carries with Lucia, his former high school sweetheart, now married to another man. One night, Paco and his younger brother Luis, enter their parent's home to steal a porcelain horse to pawn in order to score more drugs. Their father catches them and a fight ensues. The consequences of that fight will haunt both brothers forever.

Pepijn

Plot unavailable

Burning of the Gods

An airplane lands. A massive cruise boat anchors off the reef, disgorging tourists for tropical island vacations. This postcard paradise depends on petroleum imports to fuel its cars, motorbikes, boats, hotels, pumps and machinery. Yet if the tourists stopped coming, what then? The film opens with the prophetic words of Niuean artist John Pule and continues as a visual tone poem, without dialogue or narration, moving forward into the past to ask questions about the future. A young man travels back in time, from luxury resorts and lagoon tours through pandemic and population exodus, to early Christianity when missionaries incinerated his island’s atua and marae. Finally he reconnects with his tīpuna who settled the island a thousand years ago.

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.

Angélica e Luciano

Plot unavailable

Yourself

A young painter attempts to create his magnum opus, struggling through weeks of mental torment and obliterating his sense of self. Day after day, he is faced with an uninvited guest.

Retalhos

Plot unavailable

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.

Anu

When a recent widow moves to New Zealand from India, she's forced to confront her grief by completing an ordinary ritual in an extraordinary circumstance: quarantine.

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.

Alexander the Brain

Dive into the mind of Alexander Conroy, a bare-knuckle boxer in the 1880's. Approached by a young fighter, Charlie, who idolizes him, he takes Charlie under his wing into the dangerous testosterone-fueled world of bare-knuckle boxing.

The Difference Between Pipi & Pūpū

When estranged son, Tai, is called home to Aotearoa to his father Putty's deathbed, he is forced to confront a painful past after years of avoiding it. Once inseparable, Tai and Putty would spend hours together fishing and joking around. However, after a family secret is revealed, their relationship falls apart.

O Concerto de Ontem

Protagonist is faced with an internalized feeling that emerges in a moment in memory

My life about music

Mario is the guitarist of "Duck Fizz", a rock band from La Paz B.C.S. who seeks to achieve success through his own art. However, getting it means having to leave your city for a new home. A decision that modifies their entire environment and lifestyle, but that will also help them to find more opportunities to fulfill his biggest dream, live from music.

The Better Man

At a parole board hearing, James Carter asks for a freedom he is not certain that he deserves.

Blue Fire

Deep in the snowy Green Mountains, two damaged lives come crashing back together when they discover something in the forest not of this world.

Bombshell

How the tragic death of one man triggered a David and Goliath battle between two Allies that echoed around the world and became the catalyst to end nuclear testing in the Pacific.

Una Mano Bajo la Nieve y Otras Historias

An anthology of 7 Mexican short films, all created by 5 up-and-coming independent filmmakers, with a common thread: to explore themes of human relationships. In order, A Hand Beneath the Snow (Una mano bajo la nieve), Friendship (Amistad), The View from Up Above (La vista desde arriba), The Short Film (El cortometraje), Silvestre (Silvestre), Cocktails For Two (Cóctel para dos) and When I Hear You Sing, I Forget (Cuando te escucho cantar, olvido).

Echo

Gabriel (played by Dan Claudino) is a depressed young man living a reclusive and lonely life, shaken by memories of a very turbulent past. Amid the corona-virus pandemic that is ravaging the world, Gabriel finds refuge in his passion for video games and decides to start a modest career in live broadcasts on the internet. With his shy personality, he creates a community of online fans who connect with his inspiring messages of perseverance and authenticity. As Gabriel shares his personal journey and encourages his viewers to face their fears, he becomes a source of hope for many, especially one young follower who, inspired by her words, finds the strength to report her attacker. As his stream views increase and positive comments flood his channel, Gabriel finds a sense of purpose, fulfillment, and courage he never imagined.

A Watchman's Night

A story of a doctor who's in a mentally complicated situation and the events of this story leave him with no hope in life and slowly deteriorate his mental stability even further

Não Me Esqueças, Me Ame Para Sempre

Gegê wants to die but it will not be an easy task.

The Parable Of Tommy

Tommy, a devout catholic, is hired by a Priest to be his driver. Things take a turn on his first day when Tommy accidentally sneezes on the priest. The rest revolves around Tommy's tryst with his faith, guilt and man's ever craving to suffer.

Mabagal Kung Bumagsak Ang Mga Dahon

In a world where death is impossible, three worn-out immortals stumble upon a bizarre corpse bearing a pill that can finally end their endless lives. Humanity blossoms, motives clash and change as they decide whether to take the pill or not.

Aftershock

Aftershock follows four groups of people in the minutes, hours and days after Wellington is struck by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Buried office workers must pull together. Strangers, caught by the tsunami on a ruined motorway, put themselves in danger to save others. A mother must reunite her family. And, at the centre of the rescue operation, a controller is bunkered down at Wellington’s Emergency Management Office.

Backnang Express

A young woman suffering from a break-up with her girlfriend wanders through the city nightlife questioning if she can start over or not.

Permafrost

A ruthless and broken bounty hunter roams the frozen wasteland, finding redemption in an unlikely place.