Party! Party! Party!

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It’s election year.

We need to examine what each of the main parties’ views are on the Screen industry, Arts, Culture and Heritage, as well as what they are going to do for society and the economy. Here’s a first cursory look from a screen perspective.

To date, NATIONAL has shown its hand. Funding cuts for Screen and Arts. Maintenance of the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate NZSPR International. The NZSPR Domestic is currently under review. As is the possibility of a levy on streamers. No Arts policy on the website. It doesn’t seem to fit in “Fixing the Basics” and “Building the Future”. I’d have to admit to being pleasantly surprised by MCH Minister Paul Goldsmith. When he took over from Melissa Lee, I thought, “Here we go…not.” Goldsmith, it turns out, is willing to listen, learn, and it seems to do what he can for Arts and Screen while sitting in a party that’s not showing a whole lot of interest in us.

LABOUR is pretty much bereft of policy at this point. Intentionally, they kept telling us. And it’s supposedly working for them if you look at the polls. Reuben Davidson, Labour’s Media and Communications spokesperson, is in on the streamer levy if they get back into power, though. We’ll just have to wait to learn what else they have to offer. Labour has, as we know, always been a strong supporter of Screen and the Arts. And in Davidson and the Arts, Culture and Heritage spokesperson Rachel Boyack, we have two keen supporters.

ACT would do away with the NZSPR altogether if they had their way. Nothing in the way of policy on Arts on their website, which pretty much tells us all we need to know.

The GREENS are speaking our language with a full Arts, Culture and Heritage Policy on their website here. Nuff said.

TE PĀTI MĀORI tells us: “Hang tight! We’re working on our policies and will be back soon.” Don’t expect a huge amount of attention from this direction for screen in general, though. Past policy has been primarily focused on Māori Arts, Culture and Heritage, as you would expect from a Māori party.

Over at the OPPORTUNITY PARTY, former Labour Party Minister Iain Lees-Galloway is General Manager for the fifth leader there in 10 years, Quilae Wong. Their focus is the environment and business, mainly, it seems. Nothing to say on their website about the Arts at this point. A ‘wait and see’ here.

I forgot about Winnie… a late addition here. Go to the NEW ZEALAND FIRST website and the latest policy they’ve got there is for 2023. They obviously think they’re such a shoo-in they don’t have to worry. If we go back in time to their ’23 manifesto, Media gets a reasonable amount of attention but not the Arts. Jenny Marcroft, a former broadcaster, is Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Media and Communications and NZ First spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage. I don’t recollect Marcroft speaking on anything about the Arts, which possibly says a lot… about NZ First, or my memory.

In the next few months, there will be chances to hear more from all the parties on the policies that affect our industry. There is always at least one screen-focused evening with party reps in the lead-up to election day. If you can’t make it along, check party websites for policy releases and updates.

AND VOTE!

Make your voice heard.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

Last updated on 7 May 2026

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Macleod Takes the Next Leap with Springboard Award

Congratulations to Isla Macleod (DEGANZ) for being one of 16 recipients of the 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard Awards!

Springboard aims to kickstart sustainable arts careers for artists at a formative stage of their practice in Aotearoa. During the programme, each participant receives a $15k grant and a year-long mentorship from the Arts Foundation artist alumni.

Isla has been paired with fellow DEGANZ member, 2025 Laureate, and acclaimed director Roseanne Liang.

The Springboard Selection Panel commented,

Isla has been turning heads as an emerging theatre director.  With a background in film and television, Isla has quickly developed a strong and self-determined voice.  Dedicated and insightful, approaching her craft with both an intellectual and somatic approach – Isla has the potential to have a significant and impacting career as a New Zealand director.

Isla is a writer and director working across screen and theatre. She began her career in 2018 as a co-creator of Oddly Even, a series for TVNZ OnDemand. From there, she was selected for the inaugural Tāhuna Screenwriting Residency and has since written and directed multiple short films that have screened internationally, as well as two sell-out theatre productions under her company, Hekerua Bay Productions. In 2023, Isla was a participant in DEGANZ’s Emerging Women Filmmakers Incubator. Most recently, she directed second unit on season two of Secret at Red Rocks, and is currently developing her next short film through Jane Campion’s A Wave in the Ocean programme.

We wish Isla and Roseanne well in their Springboard journey!

 

Last updated on 7 May 2026

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First Look at Doc Edge 2026

Doc Edge kicks off its 21st iteration by announcing the first 16 films selected for this year’s festival, including work by DEGANZ members Kim Webby, Mike Jonathan, and Jonno Woodford-Robinson. The selection so far spans deeply personal stories to urgent global issues, drawing on voices from Aotearoa and around the world, with multiple films celebrating their world premieres at Doc Edge.

This year, the Oscar-qualifying festival is running 24 June – 12 July in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and 15 – 26 July in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. The industry events and awards will take place in Tāmaki from 29 June – 1 July, bringing together filmmakers, distributors, and industry guests from across the motu and the globe.

Read more about Kim, Mike, and Jonno’s mahi below.

Unlikely Kin

World Premiere

Directors: Kim Webby & Mike Jonathan

A father and son fight to uphold Māori guardianship — harvesting stranded whales and protecting endangered fauna. They reveal how ancestral knowledge may be the essential key to healing the land and saving New Zealand’s forests.

There’s a Hole in my Bucket

World Premiere

Editors: Jonno Woodford-Robinson & Richard Lord

When Royd Tolkien, great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, loses his brother Mike to Motor Neurone Disease, Mike leaves behind one final act of love and mischief: a bucket list of 50 challenges designed to drag his reluctant, comfort-zone-hugging brother back into the land of the living. Raucous, tender, and deeply human.

 

Congratulations on the early selections! We look forward to seeing the full programme release later in May.

 

Last updated on 7 May 2026

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DEGANZ Members Bring Aotearoa Stories to SFF 2026

The Sydney Film Festival (SFF) has officially unveiled its 2026 programme, featuring five films from Aotearoa. Among them is the short film Kurī, edited by Sam Small (DEGANZ). Also selected is the documentary feature Lomu, co-directed by DEGANZ member Vea Mafile’o. Continuing its successful release and joining the lineup is Tenor: My Name is Pati, directed by Rebecca Tansley (DEGANZ) and edited by fellow member Thomas Gleeson.

Since its inception in 1954, SFF has grown in size and reputation to become a leading international film festival in Australia. It celebrates the best of world cinema, screening features, documentaries, short films, retrospectives and a series of industry and public talks.

This year, SFF will present 248 films from 81 countries, including 19 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres and 140 Australian Premieres, with screenings at the State Theatre, Sydney Opera House and cinemas across the city.

Festival Director Nashen Moodley comments on this year’s line-up:

Art and cinema help us make sense of the world, take us into the lives of people far away from us, and remind us to remain vigilant about our own rights and freedoms. And we can’t forget, they’re also an enormous source of joy.

Read more about the projects from DEGANZ members below.

Kurī

Short Film – First Nations Award

Editor: Sam Small

After her father’s death, a young woman returns to Te Urewera, confronting grief and memory in a poetic, gothic meditation on home and belonging.

 

Lomu

Feature Documentary – International Documentaries Strand

Directors: Vea Mafile’o and Gavin FitzGerald

This exhilarating documentary charts the rise of rugby legend Jonah Lomu, a once-in-a-lifetime talent and sporting icon who would go on to change the landscape of rugby forever.
Rugby legend Jonah Lomu was a phenom from the start, sprinting 100 metres in under 11 seconds and becoming the youngest ever All Black at just 19 years old. His explosive impact at the 1995 Rugby World Cup transformed him into the sport’s first global superstar. That same year, he was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a life-threatening kidney condition that would shape the rest of his life and career. Yet his courage never faded, and he continued to play at an elite level for years to come. Directors Gavin FitzGerald and Vea Mafile’o pay a pitch-perfect tribute to a true Kiwi-Tongan warrior through spectacular game footage, newly revealed family archives, and intimate reflections from those closest to him.

 

Tenor: My Name is Pati

Feature Documentary – Sounds on Screen Strand

Director: Rebecca Tansley

Editor: Thomas Gleeson

A stirring portrait of acclaimed Samoan-born New Zealand tenor Pene Pati and his brother Amitai, the voices behind the beloved Aotearoa popera phenomenon SOL3 MIO.

Hailed as the new Pavarotti, New Zealand’s Pene Pati is one of opera’s brightest young voices, astonishing audiences worldwide with his unique timbre. Alongside his brother Amitai, they have become unlikely stars of the European operatic stage. In this candid documentary, award-winning director Rebecca Tansley (The Heart Dances, SFF 2019) follows Pene and Amitai as they reflect on their journey from childhood church performances in South Auckland to international acclaim in Paris, London and beyond. Studded with breathtaking performances, the film explores the deep bonds of family and culture that shaped them and their ongoing reconciliation of where those roots sit within the world of opera.

 

Last updated on 7 May 2026

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DEGANZ Watch List: Stream at Home AND Head to the Cinemas

It’s the best of both worlds in this week’s DEGANZ watchlist, with feature films from DEGANZ members available to watch both online at home and at the cinema.

DEGANZ member Vanessa Wells‘ environmental documentary, Mighty Indeed, is now available to watch on RNZ following its successful festival run. Notably, it took home Best New Zealand Feature and Best New Zealand Director at the 2025 Doc Edge Film Festival.

Now in cinemas nationwide is The Weed Eaters, directed by Callum Devlin (DEGANZ). This kooky horror flick first captivated audiences during Whānau Marama NZIFF in 2025, before the creative team took it on tour across the motu with a series of special Q&A screenings. If you haven’t caught it yet, now’s your chance.

Mighty Indeed

Feature Documentary

Director & Producer: Vanessa Wells

Three women, spanning four decades, push the boundaries of science on Antarctica’s frozen ocean while grappling with profound questions about the future: for themselves and the planet.

 

The Weed Eaters

Feature Drama

Director & Editor: Callum Devlin

Four holidaying friends come across a strain of weed that gives them the most extreme case of the munchies ever recorded in this cannibalistic New Zealand horror.

 

Last updated on 7 May 2026

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