Stubbs’ ‘Secret at Red Rocks’ Scores Second Season

DEGANZ member David Stubbs‘ hit family adventure series, Secrets at Red Rocks, has been greenlit for a second season!

Season one was adapted from Kiwi author Rachel King’s novel Red Rocks. The sophomore season will expand the world, introduce new characters, and dive deeper into the established mysteries, while continuing to blend Aotearoa’s dramatic coastal landscapes with myth, adventure, and family drama.

Secrets at Red Rocks season one received three Children’s & Family Emmy Award nominations recently, including Outstanding Editing for a Preschool or Children’s Live Action Program by fellow DEGANZ member Alex Boyd, Outstanding Writing for a Preschool or Children’s Series, and Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Live Action Program. It was also the National Winner for Best Children’s Programme at the Asian Academy Creative Awards.

David will continue to helm the project as the director and producer for season two, which has already begun production in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, and is set to be delivered in October 2026.

Congratulations to the team and we look forward to season two!

 

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Māoriland Shines a Light on DEGANZ Members’ Mahi

17 DEGANZ members have work selected for the 2026 Māoriland Film Festival (MFF). This year’s theme is “He taonga tuku iho te rama ataata,” meaning “The light that reveals our legacies.”

111 films have been selected from 130 Indigenous nations and 27 countries, ranging from Arctic love stories to Māori gothic dramas to climate resistance in Papua New Guinea to language revitalisation across the Pacific. They will all come together across five days of storytelling, connection, and celebration.

The festival describes the selection saying,

These are stories that shine in the darkness. Stories of resistance, love, land, language and survival. Stories that remind us we are part of something bigger, and that we have the power to build the world we deserve.

MFF is the world’s largest Indigenous film festival, not only by showcasing Indigenous stories, but by bringing filmmakers, artists, rangatahi, and audiences together for premieres, screenings, industry events, art exhibits, and community events. It is returning to Ōtaki from 24 to 28 March 2026.

Check out the festival trailer and the selected DEGANZ members below!

Kiriata – Feature Films

Mārama

Director: Taratoa Stappard

1859. When a young Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers the horrific truth of her colonial heritage and sets out to destroy the titled Englishman who has devastated her family. In his debut feature, Taratoa Stappard (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) presents a bold and unsettling gothic tale of colonial reckoning with a stand-out performance from Ariana Osborne (Ngāti Mutunga and Te Āti Haunui- a-Pāpārangi).

Mārama is the festival’s closing night film.

 

Pakipūmeka – Feature Documentaries

Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito

Director: Nicholas Riini

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.

Kiriata Poto – Shorts

Ace

Writer/Director: Ray Edwards

In a quest to save his parents’ marriage, Jimmy ventures to the east coast of Aotearoa in search of papers he believes will keep his family together.

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.

Devil in the Gat

Editor: Te Rurehe Paki

Desperate for his big break, an aspiring musician discovers a forgotten country singer at a nightclub who may hold the key to his dreams – but the answers come with a dark price.

Forget It

Director: Ashley Pye

A boy watches helplessly as his grandmother begins to slip into dementia.

I Am Not Your Dusky Maiden

Director: Vea Mafile’o

Editors: Lisa Greenfield and Jolin Lee

When a Sāmoan woman enters therapy, she must navigate a series of alter egos protecting herself from painful memories.

Kurī

Editor: Sam Small

Kurī hasn’t been back home to Te Urewera since she was bitten on the face by a dog as a child. After the death of her father, Kurī must return and face the uncertainty of grief – whether she is ready to or not.

O Alofa Nei, O Alfoa Na

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

Rapido

Writer/Director and Co-Editor: Richard J Curtis

A young boy’s fascination with war comics comes closer to home than he could ever imagine.

Raupā

Editor: Allan George

When two people you love sit on the precipice of death, whose hands do you hold?

Spdrtwnbby ft JARNA – Back to Self

Director: Litia Tuiburelevu

‘Back to Self’ is a hypnagogic mirage of neo soul, R&B and art-pop, elegantly dressed in oneiric symbolism and poetic metaphors straight out of the South Pacific.

The Charm of the Magpies

Writer/Director: Liam Ngahina Joseph Maguren

A lone tūī must find her voice to speak up against her adoptive family before they start a war.

The Return

Editor: Alex Boyd

When Lupesina answers her ancestors’ call, she must accept herself, or risk being stuck in the in-between.

Womb

Writer/Director: Ira Hetaraka

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

 

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Wolfe and Davis Take Home Awards from FIFO 2026

The International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival (FIFO) took place earlier this month in Tahiti, with multiple projects from DEGANZ members in competition and screening in the programme. Join us in congratulating members Katie Wolfe and Mana Hira Davis for winning awards at the festival!

Katie’s The Haka Party Incident took home the 2nd Special Jury Award. The feature documentary details the historical events of May 1, 1979, when a group of young Māori and Pasifika activists, which later became known as “He Taua”, confronted engineering students at the University of Auckland who were rehearsing a “mock” haka for their end-of-year parade. The clash that followed forced the entire nation to confront systemic racism and set in motion a process of real change.

Meanwhile, the Best Fiction Short Film Award went to Pākehā, written and directed by Mana. Set in the 1980s in Aotearoa, a young Pākehā mother’s determination to learn Te Reo Māori exposes her struggles, resilience, and courage, in an inspiring true story of cultural reconciliation.

 

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DEGANZ Watch List: Trailer Time

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This week’s roundup is all about trailers for soon-to-be-released projects by DEGANZ members, including a memorial docu-drama honouring L. Sgt. Haane Manahi DCM, and a sneak peek into the lives of the wahine in a tiny coastal town with a thriving surf community at the bottom of the South Island.

Check out the trailers below. We look forward to seeing these projects when they are out in the world!

Sgt. Haane

Feature Docu-Drama Trailer

Film Editor: Francis Gelnday

The never-before-told true story of Sgt. Haane from award-winning writer and director Tearepa Kahi. This documentary-drama film follows Lance Sgt. Haane Manahi DCM (Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa) of B Company, 28th Māori Battalion, a soldier of extraordinary courage, whose actions proved pivotal in the 1943 battle for the fortified summit of Takrouna, Tunisia.

 

Wahine Waveriders

Documentary Trailer

Co-Director, DOP & Drone Pilot: Zyanya Jackson

Wāhine Waveriders is a documentary celebrating 3 generations of the Pou whanau wāhine and their unique relationship with surf culture on the South Island. The film explores their personal connection to the ocean and celebrates its profound impact on physical and emotional recovery. Through the lens of womanhood across three generations, the film highlights the evolving attitudes toward women in surfing.

 

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Haigh Edits Roaring ‘Jurassic Park’ Super Bowl Ad

DEGANZ member Luke Haigh edited Taika Waititi’s recent Super Bowl ad: A reimagining of the 1993 classic Jurassic Park, with core cast members Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum reprising their original roles.

When the team’s system drops offline, a friendly Comcast Xfinity employee gets the operation back online, allowing the scientists to have a relaxing weekend in the dinosaur wildlife park and resort. Dern’s Dr Ellie Sattler comments on how bad that could’ve gone, a cheeky nod to the original film’s plot.

The ad screened just after Bad Bunny’s halftime show, which The New York Times reported reached 137.8 million viewers. In America, Super Bowl ads are renowned for being just as entertaining as the game, with some non-sports fans opting to tune in just for the commercial breaks.

It’s great to see a member’s mahi showcased on such a massive scale. Congrats, Luke!

Check out the ad below for some Jurassic Park nostalgia.

 

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