Show Me Shorts Reveals 2025 Programme

Show Me Shorts has announced the programme for 2025, marking the 20th anniversary of Aotearoa’s leading short film festival!

This year, the festival will run from 7-27 October at 40 cinemas and community venues across the motu. 83 shorts have been selected and will screen across 11 themed collections, many of which include DEGANZ members.

Check out the full list of DEGANZ’s members involved below:

Aotearoa

New Zealand filmmakers are known for their iconic coming-of-age stories, lush farmland locations and rich cultural traditions. They are also celebrated for their innovative world-building and bold, original ideas. The short films in this collection demonstrate all of that and more.

ACE

Director: Ray Edmonds

Riding along with his imaginary daredevil friend Ace, six-year-old Jimmy sets out on an epic quest to save his parents’ marriage.

Chrysanthemum

Writer/Director: Jolin Lee

Editors: Jolin Lee and Steven Chow

When her child mysteriously vanishes in a garden centre, an anguished gardener develops an unhealthy relationship with a chrysanthemum plant.

Hifi Ulu

Writer/Director: Chantelle Burgoyne

Editors: Rāhera Herewini-Mulligan and Janice Herewini-Mulligan

As Luka prepares for a significant Niuean rite of passage, the ceremony becomes a catalyst for cultural expectations and unspoken conflicts.

Farm

Writer/Director: Kate McGill

Editor: Sam Small

As Jeanie comes to terms with moving from the home she’s known for most of her adult life, she begins to believe a cow on her farm is the reincarnation of her dead husband.

 

20th Anniversary Retrospective

Celebrate twenty years of Show Me Shorts by looking back at some of the most successful and best-loved short films. The acclaimed Kiwi filmmakers behind these movies have built enviable careers, garnering awards and screening their work internationally. Take a nostalgic trip down memory lane to revisit classic Aotearoa New Zealand shorts.

Take3

Writer/Director/Editor: Roseanne Liang

Three Asian actresses transcend professional rivalry to mock the racism rife within their industry.

This is Her

Director: Katie Wolfe

A deliciously wry fable that reminds us that the greatest moments of happiness can contain the seeds of disaster.

Uphill

Director: Jackie van Beek

A woman craving solitude escapes to a tiny hut in the mountains, but her dreams of isolation are thwarted by a couple that also turns up for the night.

 

Lucid Dreams

Filmmakers are the ultimate dreamweavers. In this collection of shorts, step through the looking glass to explore their bold visions and ideas. Help us find a mystical bear, meet misanthropic mermaids, and a boy who used to be a dog. Commune with nature, befriend a gravitational phenomenon, and find yourself playing a game in the underworld. It’s a colourful reverie you won’t want to wake from.

Open Looks

Editor: Alex Boyd

Far from their islands in Te Moana-nui-ā-Kiva, three sisters are raised by their father in a small village in Aotearoa. Rei, Upokoina and Matilda G, share a love of basketball.

Growing Still

Editor: Adam-Luka Turjak

An elderly woman, wilting away in a retirement home, longs to commune with the vibrant natural world outside.

 

Day One Shorts Premiere

Show Me Shorts Film Festival is partnering with Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading filmmaker development organisation, Day One Hāpai te Haeata, to host the world premiere of eight short films.

O Alofa Nei, O Alofa Nā (Love Me, Love You)

Writer/Director: Giselle Ilaoa

Manaia, a young woman caught between expectation and self-acceptance, finds herself confronting her repressed sexuality when a chance reunion with her first love stirs old feelings.

Ata Pūao

Producer: Angel Kameta

Amid the nightlife of a new city, a young Māori trans woman reckons with safety, isolation, and the fragile bonds of old friendships outgrown — as the promise of belonging rises just beyond the horizon.

Fearlessli

Writer/Director: Lee Li

Producer & Editor: Tyler Redmond

After her gender identity was denied in her homeland, Lee Li, a transgender asylum seeker, embarks on a journey toward belonging, freedom, and self-empowerment.

Frozen – My Eggs and Me

Writer/Director/Co-Producer: Shamin Yazdani

Single and approaching a mid-thirties birthday, Shamin, a first-generation New Zealander, confronts the question she’s long been avoiding: should she freeze her eggs?

 

Last updated on 18 September 2025

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Tuiburelevu Heads to London for NZFC International Placement

Congratulations to DEGANZ member Litia Tuiburelevu, one of three recipients of the NZ Film Commission’s International Placements! She is heading to London this October to work with Protagonist Pictures.

Designed for emerging to mid-career writers, directors, and producers from Aotearoa New Zealand, this initiative offers the opportunity to develop overseas industry networks, learn and refine filmmaking skills, and gain work experience within selected global film companies.

Litia’s award-winning work spans scripted and documentary. She recently completed a director’s attachment on Big Girls Don’t Cry, and her directorial debut series, Still Here, reflects her commitment to bold, indigenous storytelling. Additionally, she has worked in legal advisory roles, helping her secure the spot for the initiative. She will be joining the acquisitions and development team at Protagonist Pictures in London this October.

In the press release announcing the placements, she shared,

I’m delighted to accept a placement with Protagonist Pictures in London! As a freelance filmmaker, I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work within a world-class company, one that will help me grow both creatively and commercially, while building valuable new connections on this side of the world. I’m excited to bring everything I learn back to our screen stories in Aotearoa and the Pacific. Vinaka vaka levu (thank you) to the NZFC and Protagonist Pictures for making this possible!

All the best on the placement, Litia!

 

Last updated on 18 September 2025

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‘Ka Whawhai Tonu’ Wins at Septimius Awards

Ka Whawhai Tonu, directed by DEGANZ member Mike Jonathan, written by fellow member Tim Worrall, and edited by board members Te Rurehe Paki and Martin Brinkler, won Best Oceanian Film at the prestigious Septimius Awards. Lead actress Hinerangi Harawira-Nicholas also took home the award for Best Oceanian Actress.

Set during the New Zealand Wars, Ka Whawhai Tonu brings to life the story of Māori resistance, resilience, and survival in the face of colonial conflict. Across its festival run, critics and audiences have praised the film for its authenticity, emotional depth, and powerful performances.

The Septimius Awards, held annually in Amsterdam, celebrate visionary films and groundbreaking talent from across the globe. It focuses on discovering and encouraging new independent talent, supporting visionary films and bringing together all elements of filmmaking and storytelling, including fiction, non-fiction, animation, television series and scripts.

Congratulations to Mike, Tim, Te Rurehe, Martin, Hinerangi, and the rest of the team on the win!

 

Last updated on 17 September 2025

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‘Choir Games’ Drops in Canada

DEGANZ member Leanne Pooley‘s docuseries Choir Games drops in Canada on Super Channel on 20 September.

The series is an uplifting story about the power of music to change lives. In four episodes, two choirs—one from New York City and one from Kaitaia—participate in the 2024 World Choir Games in Aotearoa. Starting in the rehearsal rooms and following the singers all the way to the Game’s awards, Choir Games takes audiences on a joyful and inspiring journey with these performers.

Congrats to Leanne and the team! It is great to see the series screening internationally.

If you still haven’t seen it, Choir Games is available on Neon and Sky Go in Aotearoa now.

 

Last updated on 17 September 2025

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Opportunity to Boost Maramara’s Short ‘Homestay’

Writer/Director Mia Maramara (DEGANZ) is crowdfunding on Boosted for her upcoming short film, Homestay.

The short follows a Filipino nurse who finds herself trapped between losing her job or losing her mind when her dementia patient pushes her to abuse an experimental procedure. It investigates the pressures of immigration, financial precarity, and the insidious exploitation of migrant labour.

Homestay is part of a much larger story, serving as the prequel to Mia’s feature film in development. Through her work, Mia illuminates the sobering realities many Filipino migrants face in Aotearoa and abroad.

Mia shares about the impact this project has, saying,

As a migrant worker myself, I know what it means to keep your mouth shut, do the job, and swallow your own expertise. This is a story for every migrant who has traded their body, labour, or future for a chance at survival. And it’s also a story about how deeply we rely on those sacrifices as a society. By telling it now, we hope to spark dialogue, empathy, and change.

The film is shooting next month in October, and is seeking to raise $11,000 to go towards covering production costs, props, camera gear, post-production, and paying cast and crew.

You can find out more about the project, where the funds raised will go, and donate on the Boosted Page.

 

Last updated on 17 September 2025

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