Pike River, directed by Rob Sarkies (DEGANZ) and edited by fellow member Peter Roberts, has had a well-deserved, smashing opening week. Not only has the feature grossed half a million at the box office, but it has also touched the hearts of audiences and earned a stream of positive reviews.
This is mature filmmaking in the hands of a committed director with experience and empathy. The mark of a good director is that everyone does their best work, in front and behind the camera. […] The domestic world of the families become somehow elevated, as the personal experiences of Sonya Rockhouse and Anna Osbourne become central and heroic.
Rob, along with writer Fiona Samuel and the women behind the story, Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse, have been travelling the motu for a series of screenings and Q&As. While celebrating the film and the creative team behind it, Rob maintains focus on Anna and Sonya’s ongoing story. As the film earns its fair share of applause and congratulations, the women receive it in equal parts, if not more, with teary-eyed standing ovations.
Congratulations to Rob, Peter, and the whole Pike River team on the successful release!
Another newsletter, another DEGANZ Watch List! This time, DEGANZ members are behind the new comedy series Bloke of the Apocalypse and the latest season of Educators. Both shows offer a cheeky look into classic Kiwi culture and propose that maybe the attitudes of younger generations can teach the adults something new.
DEGANZ Board President Ben Powdrell co-produced the new animated web series, Bloke of the Apocalypse. The series is inspired by series creator Charlie Foulks’ childhood growing up in Gisborne on a sheep farm and his love for the zombie genre. What transpires is a silly series that lovingly pokes fun at the classic Kiwi bloke.
Beloved comedy series Educators is back for its fourth season. Co-created by Jackie van Beek (DEGANZ) and board member Jesse Griffin, and directed by Jesse, the series peeks into the staffroom of Aotearoa’s most questionable teachers. Despite being responsible for the next generation’s education, these adults are often more troubled than the kids they teach.
Co-Producer: Ben Powdrell (DEGANZ Board President)
In the rural back blocks of New Zealand, a father and son battle a zombie apocalypse and some annoying neighbours, all while taking care of their pet lamb, Lambie.
Created and Written by Jackie van Beek, Jesse Griffin (DEGANZ Board), and Johnny Brugh
Director:Jesse Griffin (DEGANZ Board)
Set behind the scenes of an ordinary Kiwi secondary school, this comedy favourite follows the hopelessly and hilariously inept staff in charge of educating the next generation. Season four is out now!
Check out this very full DEGANZ Watchlist with Day One Shorts, new series, and trailers for soon-to-be-released projects!
DEGANZ members Giselle Ilaoa, Angel Kameta, Lee Li, and Shamin Yazdani celebrate the online premiere of their Day One Shorts after two packed screenings during Show Me Shorts.
If you’re looking for something new to watch at home, The Ridge, a Kiwi/Scottish co-production crime drama directed by Robyn Grace (DEGANZ), is releasing weekly on Sky Go and Neon. If you’re more of a sports fan, you’ll be interested in Triple Threat, a factual web series covering the highs and lows of three Black Ferns.
Meanwhile, trailers dropped for projects from DEGANZ Board President Ben Powdrell and fellow member Taratoa Stappard. Ben’s comedy animated series, Bloke of the Apolocalypse, is coming to YouTube on 31 October. We have to wait a little longer for Taratoa’s highly anticipated directorial debut, Mārama, set to hit local cinemas in early 2026.
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.
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.
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.
Single and with a mid-thirties birthday approaching, Shamin confronts the question she’s long been avoiding: should she freeze her eggs? Born in Iran, raised in Ōtautahi Christchurch, and having spent her twenties overseas, Shamin uses her own story to unpack what at first seems like a simple decision. However, as she embarks on this deeply personal journey, the question of motherhood reveals itself to be intertwined with something much bigger: her identity as the daughter of Iranian immigrants.
Leaving a life in tatters in Scotland, Mia travels to New Zealand for her sister’s wedding. On arrival, she’s shocked to learn her sister has died. Determined to uncover the truth, Mia becomes entangled in a small town’s web of secrets and lies.
Editors: Josie Haines, Jake Tattershall, and Isaac Stati
3 BLACK FERNS rookies fight for their FIRST Women’s Rugby World Cup spot! Follow Jorja Miller, Maia Joseph, and Katelyn Vahaakolo as they chase their dreams of making New Zealand’s elite squad heading to the UK. This behind-the-scenes journey reveals the intense pressure, gruelling training, and personal sacrifices these talented athletes face during the rigorous selection process. Will they make the cut for rugby’s biggest stage?
In the rural back blocks of New Zealand, a father and son battle a zombie apocalypse and some annoying neighbours, all while taking care of their pet lamb, Lambie.
1859. When a young Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers the horrific truth of her colonial heritage, and she must destroy the titled Englishman who has devastated her family. In cinemas across Aotearoa from 12 February 2026.
http://degnz.sensedesign.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DEGANZ-Wathclist-Oct-22.jpg4561200admin/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DEGANZ_logo_home.pngadmin2025-10-22 17:05:112025-10-22 17:04:58DEGANZ Watch List: Day One Shorts, New Series, and Trailers
New sci-fi comedy series Warren’s Vortex, edited by DEGANZ board member Martin Brinkler and fellow member Alex Boyd, is out now on TVNZ+.
The show was created by the team behind Wellington Paranormal and shares a similar humour and tone to the police mockumentary. In this series, Warren’s typical suburban life is turned upside down when his teenage daughter, Lucy, is sucked into an interdimensional portal in his shed, and he leaps in after her, traversing alternate Lower Hutt realities.
So far, only two episodes have been released, with four more set to follow. In episode one, Warren and Lucy land in an alternate reality where intelligent refrigerators have taken over the world. The next episode sees them transported to a world where every Kiwi backyard is a reality TV competition with raised stakes.
You can find Warren’s Vortex on TVNZ+ with new episodes dropping on Sundays at 7pm.
The projects in this week’s DEGANZ Watch List address some of Aotearoa’s hard conversations, including patriarchy and systemic racism.
DEGANZ member Stella Reid directed the punk rock band Dick Move’s latest music video, titled F*ck It. Edited by fellow member Sam Small, the music video is a two-minute single take following the lead singer through the morning after a raging party. The song screams about the ever-impressing presence of misogyny, most poignantly with the line, “All of me belongs to me / My thighs, my voice, my tits / But still I have to walk home / With my keys clenched in my fist”.
Meanwhile, documentary The Stolen Children of Aotearoa, edited by DEGANZ board president Ben Powdrell and fellow member Trinity Ludlow-Hudson, unearths the chilling history of the systemic abuse of an estimated 250,000 children, many of whom were Māori, between 1950-2019. Led by veteran journalist Aaron Smale, the film investigates the origins of this mass injustice, tracing back to Aotearoa’s colonisation, which stripped Māori of their language, culture, and land.
Confronting the painful truth of this forgotten chapter in our history, survivors from New Zealand’s state care system speak out about their stolen childhoods and the abuse they endured after being separated from their families.
