The film follows four friends on a New Year’s Eve trip gone wrong. When they stumble upon and smoke some ancient weed, the group devolves into cannibalism.
The Weed Eaters premiered at the 2025 Whānau Marama NZ International Film Festival and has gone on to collect a successful line-up of festival laurels, including Frightfest in London, the Adelaide Film Festival, and now SXSW Sydney. The film was shot on location in northern Canterbury for the micro budget of $19,000 and has been praised for its distinct New Zealand voice and ingenuity.
Congratulations to Callum and the rest of the team on the win!
http://degnz.sensedesign.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/The-Weed-Eaters.jpg4561200admin/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DEGANZ_logo_home.pngadmin2025-10-22 21:27:472025-10-22 21:27:47‘The Weed Eaters’ Wins Best Feature at SXSW Sydney
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.
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DEGANZ members April Phillips and Jeremy Masters have had films accepted to film festivals both near and far.
Blind Panic, a feature film co-produced by April, is celebrating its premiere here in Aotearoa at the Terror-Fi Film Festival in Pōneke Wellington on 31 October. The film tells the story of a blind woman who befriends an ex-con, unaware that he is on home detention with a target on his back. She finds herself caught up in his past and hiding in plain sight of a sadistic crime lord. The crime thriller is the directorial debut of the late Mark Willis and was completed before his untimely death in May 2023. It will also screen in Auckland and Christchurch before receiving international distribution.
Home Base, directed and edited by Jeremy and colour graded by fellow member Damian McDonnell, screened at the Buffalo International Film Festival in mid-October as part of the Growing Up programme. The short follows a young boy who is left paralysed by anxiety after a traumatic event. His parents struggle to help him move forward, only to find their efforts deepening the problem.
http://degnz.sensedesign.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Screening-Near-and-Far.jpg4561200admin/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DEGANZ_logo_home.pngadmin2025-10-22 17:04:432025-10-22 17:04:43Screening Near and Far
Show Me Shorts has unveiled the nominees for this year’s awards, with multiple films from DEGANZ members in the mix! As an Oscar-qualifying short film festival, Show Me Shorts provides a pathway to international recognition at the highest level.
The awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, 12 October, as part of the festival’s Vista Foundation Industry Day. One film will be awarded the People’s Choice Award at the conclusion of the festival based on audience voting.
DEGANZ is a proud sponsor of the Best Director and Best Editor Awards. Congratulations to the nominees below, and we look forward to seeing your hard work screen across the country.
A young emergency dispatcher forms a fleeting yet profound bond with an elderly widower, reminding her of the fragile beauty of life and human connection.
DEGANZ members Te Waiarangi Ratana and Jo Luping are attached to projects that have received funding from the latest round of the New Zealand Film Commission’s He Kauahi Catalyst. The fund provides up to $90,000 to local filmmakers to create exceptional narrative short films, including animation.
Te Waiarangi is working with Anahera Parata and Ben Bamford on the live-action action/adventure, Thieves of Te Rā. Evil forces hunt a Māori artifact with the power to command the sun. Two Māori heroes stand in their way.
Jo has teamed up with Paula Whetu Jones, Tainui Tukiwaho, and Kirk Torrance on He Tohu – The Warning. The animated horror/fantasy short warns against harming the planet. When disease and deforestation threaten the existence of the mighty God of the Forest, Tāne Mahuta unleashes a terrifying force, killing and absorbing every human in a nearby logging town.
Congratulations on the funding success; we look forward to seeing the films when they are completed!
http://degnz.sensedesign.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catalyst-25.jpg4561200admin/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DEGANZ_logo_home.pngadmin2025-10-02 15:16:512025-10-02 15:16:51Catalyst Lights the Spark for Short Films from Ratana and Luping
