September 2024 • Page 3 of 3 • Directors and Editors Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand

DEGANZ members are dominating this year’s NZ Web Fest! Check out the 16 projects below with 24 members involved as directors, editors, and producers.

This year marks the 24th annual run of the festival. It celebrates international online content, including podcasts, short films, and web series.

Short Films (Documentary)

Taurewarewa

A short documentary on bipolar disorder, Taurewarewa explores the highs and lows of tides and emotions in a sequence of insightful kōrero framed against a backdrop of Aotearoa’s turbulent oceans.

Editor: Amanda Mulderry

Short Films (Narrative)

Behind the White Wall

A Korean immigrant dad, working as a construction painter, mentors a new, young worker while simultaneously battling melancholia and guilt as he awaits the arrival of his family.

Writer/Director: Suenghoon Sung

Producer: Joshua Siu

A coming-of-age drama that follows a young competitive swimmer named Paula, who is trained by her father Troy. Despite her dedication and hard work, Paula’s results don’t meet her father’s high standards. Meanwhile, Troy struggles with financial problems and the possibility of losing their home. As the national swimming competition approaches, tensions rise between father and daughter, and Paula begins to question her passion for the sport.

Director: Tyler Redmond

For Thom

A lonely teenage girl tries reconnecting with her best friend in an attempt to fix her fragile mental state.

Writer/Director: Rafa Yam

Editor: Guillaume Arnoulet

Heatbeat

A short film about a young girl who uses Drum and Bass raves to escape her toxic household.

Director: Amelia Addis

Monster State

A young mother tries to keep her son safe.

Director: Julie Zhu

Editor: Isaiah Tour

The Balloon

On her birthday, an earnest, young girl finds unexpected solace when her mother seemingly fails to make any plans.

Writer/Director: James Fink-Jensen

The Polycees

In a clandestine world under government buildings around the world, a puppet dynasty has secretly controlled global politics for centuries. Until the daughter of the new Prime Minister of New Zealand accidentally discovers them, they must keep the secret from the humans while helping her bumbling father in his new job.

Writer/Director & Editor: Celia Jaspers

Wilbert Wire

Wilbert, an autistic-coded robot and art student, is tasked to make a painting about love. Wilbert’s mission to create this magnum opus takes him on a quest of slapstick miming, invisible trains, and a very special Mother’s Day gift.

Writer/Director & Editor: Ricky Townsend

Web Series (Factual)

TE ARA the Path

Holly Beckham (Ngāpuhi) is on a mission to be the first Māori woman to scale Everest. She has no alpine experience, but she has survived the depths of addiction and is climbing a mountain to recovery. Back in 1988, New Zealand’s Lydia Bradey, ONZM, was the first woman to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen. But instead of accolades, she became the subject of public bullying and misinformation, as people challenged her claims.

Together these two ‘wāhine toa’ (warrior women) venture into New Zealand’s mountains, developing a deep partnership of trust, honesty and grit as they attempt to summit Holly’s first peak, the iconic Tititea, Mt Aspiring.

Director: Alexis Smith

The Turning Point

The Turning Point follows a new generation of kaitiaki who value the well-being of their whenua. From north to south, they’re helping their communities protect and connect with Aotearoa’s natural environment despite the very real anxieties of the climate crisis. They have only one thing on their minds: to make a difference!

Director: Steph Miller

Turning The Tide

The Turning the Tide six-part short documentary series highlights the work of researchers, kaitiaki, and community members as they pool their knowledge and resources to improve the health of the seas around Aotearoa New Zealand.

Director: Magnolia Lowe

Editor: Amanda Mulderry

Producer: Tui Ruwhiu

Web Series (Narrative)

ADHD & Me

A comedy web series about a woman who unexpectedly receives a late ADHD diagnosis. When her ADHD manifests as a person that only she can see, she must reevaluate how well she knows her own brain.

Director: Michelle Ang (Incubator 2020)

Co-editor: Jack Brown

Ahikāroa

A Māori bilingual series following a crazy group of city-based rangatahi. They’re young, kura kaupapa raised and dangerously onto it. Their world orbits around getting cash, cutting corners and charging their phones.

Co-editor: Jack Woon

Writer & Storyliner: Onehou Strickland

The Creature

Stuck in the online dating rut of endlessly swiping with no results, Aidan is ecstatic when he matches with his ‘dream man’. However, to leave for his date, Aidan must face the perturbed Creature lurking in the shadows of his home.

Writer/Director: Jake Tabata

Producer: Isabelle (Izzi) Hoskyn

Well Well Wellness

A comedy web series that follows a silent retreat run by some well-meaning but hopeless wellness gurus. It follows the bumbling owners trying to save their haven, the mystic teachers who aren’t as deep as they seem, and the assorted mix of weird, wonderful, and worrisome retreatants who come to stay, find peace, or otherwise.

Director: Jack Nicol

Congratulations to all those selected!

Last updated on 12 September 2024

Edited by DEGANZ board member Margot Francis and produced by Leanne Pooley (DEGANZ), Dame Valerie Adams: MORE THAN GOLD is now on NEON and Sky Go.

The 90-minute film tells the inspirational story of Olympic champion, Kiwi icon, Tongan leader, mother, daughter, sister, and survivor Dame Valerie Adams. She shares her story with profound honesty and vulnerability which is rare among professional athletes. Both funny and gut-wrenching, Dame Valerie shows us what it means to be a world-class competitor and someone for whom winning means more than gold. The documentary speaks to anyone who has faced hardship, loss, or pursued a dream.

After releasing in cinemas in 2022, Dame Valerie Adams: MORE THAN GOLD was selected for the International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival (FIFO) 2023. The feature documentary went on to win 1st Special Jury and the Youth Jury Awards, winning a total of 700,000 XPF (about NZ$10,000).

Available to watch on NEON or Sky Go now!

Last updated on 11 September 2024

All Aboard for NZ Web Fest