Liang Wins Hugo Award for ‘Murderbot’

Congratulations to DEGANZ member Roseanne Liang, who recently won a prestigious Hugo Award for her work on the Apple TV series Murderbot! Roseanne and the show’s writers were awarded Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for the episode All Systems Red of the sci-fi drama series.

The Hugo Awards recognise outstanding work in science fiction and fantasy across literature and screen. This win places Roseanne alongside some of the leading creatives working in the genre internationally.

Based on Martha Wells’ bestselling, Hugo Award-winning book series, Murderbot is a sci-fi thriller/comedy about a self-hacking security construct who is horrified by human emotion, yet drawn to its vulnerable clients. Murderbot must hide its free will while completing a dangerous assignment, when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe.

This is another major international achievement for Liang, who has been making strides overseas with a variety of action-based work, including Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

 

/by

DEGANZ Members Make Their Mark at NZ Web Fest 2026

DEGANZ members are making a strong showing at the 2026 NZ Web Fest, with 15 projects featuring DEGANZ members selected for this year’s lineup. The selection spans short documentaries, narrative shorts, web series, and music videos.

Since its inception in 2015, the virtual festival has curated and celebrated online short films, web series, and podcasts from around the world. This year’s festival runs from 13–23 November, bringing together a diverse programme of digital storytelling from local and international creators.

Read more about the DEGANZ members’ projects below, and keep an eye out for when registrations open for the festival!

Documentary Shorts

Silver Lining

Director: Harriett Maire

Editor: Josh Yong

Approaching 25 years with a chronic illness, Harriett Maire explores how it feels to live with type 1 diabetes.

 

Narrative Shorts

Pākehā

Writer/Director: Mana Hira Davis

In 1980s New Zealand, 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.

Raupā

Editor: Allan George

Raupā follows Kingi as he confronts his strained relationship with his comatose father, navigating grief, family dynamics and the healing power of family and connection.

The Whole Thing

Director: Calvin Sang

Two strangers meet at a crematorium while picking up their loved ones’ remains. They decide to spend the day together, killing time and watching the world go by.

When Cheese is On Sale

Director & Editor: Ash Kelliher

Three twenty-something friends navigate the messy, chaotic beauty of young adulthood while living together. Their shared moments – ordinary yet quirky – unfold in a tapestry of growth, intimacy, and bittersweet realisations about life, friendship, and identity.

When the Music Stops

Director: Dan Eady

When a hardened crime lord resists traditional tactics, an unconventional interrogator is brought in to play.

Working From Home

Writer/Director: Diane Young

There’s always some s#!& to clean up…

You Seeing Someone?

Director: Molly Power

When a Peeping Tom discovers that someone watches her while she watches others, her life spirals out of control as she tries to discover who they are.

 

Narrative Shorts (Student)

T for Taupou

Writer, Director, and Editor: Sofia Misa

A fast-paced, chaotic story that takes place in real-time, all in a backstage room as a Poly Club of tertiary students prepares to take the stage for a competition.

This is Where I Come From (Ito Ang Aking Pinanggagalingan)

Director: Meggy Laguda

After migrating from the Philippines to suburban Aotearoa, 17-year-old Sabina tries to relearn an old dance while grappling with grief for her Lola from across the world. The film traces how movement, memory and family stories become a bridge between the place you come from and the place you now call home.

 

Web Series Pilots

Jani Bros

Editor: Adam-Luka Turjak

Two codependent brothers are forced to support their family’s struggling crop-growing business, but their burning desire to forge their own paths throws their brotherhood into turmoil.

Strange Brew

Editor: Sam Small

Surpassed by a perfect Machine, an aspiring Barista Champion enters a virtual realm to seek the knowledge of her Hero.

Takahoa

Director: Meggy Laguda

The Takahoa pilot introduces best friends Hana, Alice, Sam, Marley, and Eli. After Hana wins second place at an Art Gallery competition, Marley makes a racist comment towards the first-place winner, Anahera, who overhears and confronts Hana.

 

Web Series

Feelings Club

Writer/Director: Taylor Nixon

New kid Toby starts up a secret support group in a brutal school…

Takahoa

Director: Meggy Laguda

Five childhood friends navigate love, family drama, and self-discovery as they transition into adulthood together.

 

Music Videos

Kiss it Better

Editors: Zane Neki and Crystal Chen

Official Video for “Kiss It Better” by Crystal Chen

 

/by

DEGANZ Watchlist: Docos and Drama

This week’s watchlist features four DEGANZ members behind a range of new releases – from documentaries exploring OCD, family and identity, to a personal love letter, and a new Māori comedy-drama.

Award-winning documentary director and producer Megan Jones (DEGANZ) is behind Exposure, now streaming on TVNZ+. The documentary explores OCD in young people and was made with the support of NZ On Air.

Congratulations to fellow member Josh Yong for his directorial debut with 保重 Take Care, Aunty. Josh predominantly works as an editor, but has taken to the director’s seat for this personal documentary exploring family, identity and cultural heritage across geographical distance.

On the editing side of things, DEGANZ members Margot Francis and Allanah Bazzard are behind This Is Home, a new, local Māori comedy-drama series now streaming on MĀORI+ and airing on Whakaata Māori.

Check them out below!

Exposure

Documentary

Director: Megan Jones 

The documentary follows a group of young New Zealanders living with OCD as they undertake an intensive four-day treatment programme designed to help them face their fears and transform their lives.

保重 Take Care, Aunty

Documentary

Directors: Josh Yong

This film is an archive of a home and all the memories contained within it. Told through the perspective of Josh’s aunt, who left school at 10 years old to help raise her siblings. They were afforded an education and opportunities abroad while Aunty remained in the same small town she’s always called home. The film explores a quiet meditation on geographic and generational distance, health and ageing, and a life quietly held in place.

This Is Home

Drama Series

Editors: Margot Francis & Allanah Bazzard

Set in an urban Māori homestead in Tāmaki Makaurau, This Is Home follows grown-up sisters Kara and Nina, forced to live under the same roof again for the first time since their teens. As they struggle with financial strains, personal setbacks, and unresolved sibling conflicts, tensions rise, and secrets begin to surface. 

 

/by

DEGANZ Members Take the Spotlight at NZIFF

This year’s Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) has been a huge success for DEGANZ members, with more than 20 members represented across the festival programme. 

In the short film space, five films from DEGANZ members won awards after screening in the Ngā Whanaunga Aotearoa: New Zealand’s Best programme.

Umbrella Best Short Film Awards ($5,000)

The Whole Thing 

Director: Calvin Sang

Letterboxd Audience Award

The Whole Thing 

Director: Calvin Sang

Auckland Live Spirit Of The Civic Awards ($4,000)

Arrival 

Director: Ahmed Osman 

Park Road Post Award For Maori Pasifika Talent ($2,000)

Todd Karehana, Writer and Director Of Socks 

Best Artistic Contribution

Allan George, Editor of Tall Hours by Sophie Black

 

/by

Bouchet, Mayow, and Boult Win Big at MIFF

Congratulations to DEGANZ members Prisca Bouchet, Nick Mayow, and Victoria Boult for their recent wins at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)!

Prisca and Nick won the City of Melbourne Grand Prix Award for Best Short Film for Lion Rock, one of three short films from Aotearoa to screen at the festival.

Inspired by a trip through Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s spooky Waitākere Ranges, Lion Rock is a unique take on the coming-of-age drama, transforming a routine drive into a mysterious thriller told from the boy’s perspective. The film was produced as part of Jane Campion’s A Wave in the Ocean film school, and premiered at Venice in 2025.

The jury commented on the win, saying,

From its opening frame, Lion Rock draws us completely into a world of striking natural beauty and quietly mounting unease. Within a beautifully contained dramatic structure, Prisca Bouchet and Nick Mayow craft a subtle yet deeply affecting portrait of the shifting balance of power between a son and his mother. The narrative unfolds with remarkable restraint, while the wild coastline of Aotearoa New Zealand becomes an active presence rather than a mere backdrop.

Prisca and Nick both attended the MIFF Accelerator Lab along with a cohort of other Kiwi filmmakers, where they all pitched feature films.

Through the Lab, fellow member Victoria took home the Pitch Competition’s top prize, earning her both bragging rights and a cash prize.

DEGANZ is proud to have supported the attendance of Aotearoa’s filmmakers at MIFF and the Accelerator Lab again this year.

 

/by