Peter Jackson Celebrated with Honorary Palme d’Or

DEGANZ member Peter Jackson will receive the prestigious Honorary Palme d’Or at the opening ceremony of the 79th Cannes Film Festival in May 2026.

Introduced in 1997, the Honorary Palme d’Or is a lifetime achievement award presented to filmmakers who have made an outstanding contribution to world cinema. The award recognises an artist’s body of work rather than a single film and is typically granted to filmmakers with a significant career who have not previously won the festival’s top prize. Past recipients include contemporary screen icons such as Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and George Lucas, alongside legendary filmmakers including Agnès Varda, Woody Allen and Bernardo Bertolucci.

The honour recognises Peter’s decades-long career and his impact on filmmaking, spanning cult classics, archival documentaries, and some of the most ambitious blockbuster productions ever made. Before making cinematic history with The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Peter established himself with a string of acclaimed indie features, including Bad Taste, Braindead and Heavenly Creatures. His adaptation of Tolkien’s fantasy epic went on to become a global phenomenon, winning over fans’ hearts, 17 Academy Awards, and earning more than US$3 billion at the box office. Since then, Peter has contributed to Hollywood blockbuster franchises like King Kong, as well as exploring massive found-footage documentaries, including They Shall Not Grow Old and The Beatles: Get Back.

In announcing the honour, Cannes cited Peter’s ability to “blend Hollywood blockbusters and films d’auteur with extraordinary artistic vision and technological audacity.”

In the official Cannes press release, he shares,

To be honoured with an Honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes is one of the greatest privileges of my career. […] This festival has always celebrated bold, visionary cinema, and I’m incredibly grateful to the Festival de Cannes for being recognised among the filmmakers and the artists whose work continues to inspire me.

 

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‘TENOR: My Name is Pati’ Hits the High Note at the Box Office

DEGANZ member Rebecca Tansley‘s documentary TENOR: My Name is Pati has had a smashing opening weekend, striking a chord with local audiences!

The feature follows the success story of renowned tenor opera singers Pene and Amitai Pati, who you may know as two-thirds of the popular musical trio, Sol3 Mio. Beginning in Samoa and moving to Aotearoa, the brothers came from humble origins before taking the opera world by storm. By weaving intimate family archival footage with behind-the-scenes observations and soaring performances, the documentary blends humour and heart to reveal the power of family, cultural pride, and determination when chasing dreams.

Rebecca has directed several arts-focused films before, covering the classic arts of ballet, orchestra, and, of course, opera. She has made two films for NZ Opera, including Semele in 2021, where she first filmed Amitai. Through the combination of her professional and personal interests in opera and the Pati brothers’ international success, she realised that the story deserved to be told on the big screen.

The documentary took three and a half years to make, taking the team around the globe and to some of the world’s most acclaimed opera houses. The film is not only a testament to the brothers’ amazing vocals but also to the production’s technical prowess. Recording opera singers is no easy feat, as each opera house has its own way of recording the singers’ performances, meaning lots of audio mixing in post-production.

TENOR’s first weekend in local cinemas placed it in the top four at the box office and secured the number one spot on 9 March, a huge feat for a feature documentary.

You can find a screening of TENOR: My Name is Pati in a theatre near you.

 

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MWFF Uplifts Aotearoa’s Women and Gender Diverse Filmmakers

The Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) is back for 2026, with 5 films from DEGANZ members in the programme.

MWFF aims to inspire and empower emerging and established women and gender diverse screen practitioners from Australia and the wider Pacific. The festival exhibits and celebrates work from collaborative teams of women and gender diverse practitioners working in all facets of screen production to help address the gender imbalance on and behind the screen. Alongside the festival screenings are various industry events for networking and professional development opportunities.

This year, the festival will be held on 19-23 March at ACMI in Melbourne.

Congratulations to all those selected!

Feature Films

Kōkā

Editor: Te Rurehe Paki

Under the celestial guidance of Matariki, Māori kuia Hamo and local delinquent Jo form an unlikely bond on a road trip. Hamo and Jo undertake a spiritual journey together in an old Ford Falcon, heading towards Hamo’s whenua. As they confront past traumas and each face their demons, their shared path becomes a journey of healing, community and reconciliation.

 

Freshly Squeezed Shorts 1

Womb

Writer/Director: Ira Hetaraka

A young Māori girl in the care of a conservative English couple savours her mother’s weekly visitations, as a custody battle driven by racial bias will ultimately decide their fate.

I See You

Editor: Adam-Luka Turjak

In a world where having the perfect baby is becoming a choice, a young mother is struggling to love and accept her daughter for who she is.

 

Freshly Squeezed Shorts 2

Open Looks

Co-Writer/Director: Mīria George

Far from their islands in Te Moana-nui-o-Kiva – the South Pacific Ocean – three sisters are raised by their father in a small village in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Rei, Ina and Matilda G share a love of basketball. The sudden death of the eldest sister takes the younger two to Havaiki Nui – the Underworld – where they’re forced to play ball to return home.

The Sea Inside Her

Editor: Adam-Luka Turjak

Fear takes full shape when a loving grandmother is charged with the care of her young grandchild. When their bedtime routine starts to unravel, Grandma grows increasingly frustrated, and her deepest fears begin to take on a physical shape. Desperate to protect her grandchild from the emerging dangers, she fights off the terrors surrounding them both with emotional consequences.

 

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DEGANZ Watch List: Long-Time Favourites and Bold New Stories

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From iconic rural storytelling and a rebellious schoolyard comedy-drama to a flirty brand collaboration and a powerful story of protest and resilience, this DEGANZ Watch List highlights the breadth of our members’ mahi. These directors are working across Aotearoa’s favourite factual series, new drama and docu series, and commercials.

Check them out below!

Country Calendar

Factual Series

Directors include Howard Taylor, Celia Jaspers & Roz Mason

Take a look at iconic rural Kiwi life in Aotearoa’s longest-running television series, celebrating 60 years in 2026!

 

Feelings Club

Web Series

Writer/Director: Taylor Nixon

When soft-hearted new student Toby arrives at Hawkesworth College, he finds that breaking the rules might be the only thing to help the students at this brutal school. Feelings Club is a short-form comedy-drama series about identity, rebellion, and what happens when young people are finally given permission to be honest.

Episodes 1-6 are out now, with new episodes dropping twice a week on Instagram.

 

Let Thy Swipe Season Begin

Advertisement for Tinder x Netflix

Director: Josh Frizzell

Beautiful State Productions created the latest Tinder ad, in collaboration with Netflix, to celebrate the new season of Bridgerton.

 

Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito

Documentary Series Trailer

Executive Producer: Kim Webby

DOP: Mike Jonathan

Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito revisits the 1985 protest and occupation of the sacred mountain Taiarahia in the Ruatoki valley – a stand led by the people of Te Māhurehure hapū to protect their sacred maunga from being stripped of its ancient native forest and replanted with pine for financial gain. Fourty years on, this docu-series reflects on that stand — a powerful reminder that the value of whenua, whakapapa and kotahitanga will always outweigh the value of a dollar.

 

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‘Mārama’ Has a Bloody Good Premiere in Local Cinemas

DEGANZ member Taratoa Stappard‘s debut feature film, Mārama, is out now in Aotearoa cinemas with a stream of positive reviews following, currently holding a 100% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes!

The film celebrated its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025 and has since screened at a variety of different festivals.

Set in Victorian-era North Yorkshire, the gothic horror film follows a young Māori woman named Mary fighting to reclaim her identity and connect with her whakapapa and culture while living in a foreign land. Taratoa describes the film as a Māori gothic, drawing on the horrors of colonisation in Aotearoa.

Madeline Hakaraia de Young, director of the Māoriland Film Festival, reviewed the film for RNZ, commenting,

In the days and weeks since I first saw the film […], its memories have lingered. Its images return to mind and trigger a succession of trains of thought. It’s a film you want to talk about. It disturbs not to shock, but to reckon. And in doing so, it expands Māori cinema not as spectacle, but as authority.

The film is also screening in the Māoriland Film Festival as the closing night film on 28 March 2026. If you can’t catch it then, you can find a screening of Mārama near you here!

 

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