Seven New Zealand Directors Set to Attend the 2025 MIFF Accelerator Lab

DEGANZ is thrilled to announce the Aotearoa New Zealand directors attending the 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival’s (MIFF) Accelerator Lab.

Ira Hetaraka, Lucy Suess, and Raymond Edwards have been selected by MIFF to attend the Accelerator Lab, alongside their films screening in the Accelerator Shorts programme.

Additionally, DEGANZ has selected fellow directors Aroha Awarau, Jolin Lee, Maza White, and Saito Lilo to attend the Lab as Express participants.

The Accelerator Lab is designed to help short film directors move towards their first long-form work. Across four days during the festival, participants attend workshops, screenings, seminars, and networking events to learn more about the creative and business aspects of filmmaking.

DEGANZ is proud to be managing the participation of the New Zealand filmmakers through the Lab with the financial support of the New Zealand Film Commission. Executive Director Tui Ruwhiu will be attending MIFF to assist Aotearoa’s participants, observe sessions, and contribute to panel discussions.

2025 MIFF ACCELERATOR LAB NEW ZEALAND DIRECTORS

Ira Hetaraka is an emerging Māori filmmaker who aims to tell intimate and entertaining indigenous stories that explore class, identity, and desire from an authentic perspective. She studied film and screenwriting at UCLA School of Theatre, Film & Television in LA before relocating back to Aotearoa to work in distribution at Vendetta Films, Madman Entertainment and Rialto Distribution and as the Director’s Assistant on numerous AppleTV+ and Netflix Series. Ira’s debut short film Womb world premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in NYC and played Sydney Film Festival as part of its First Nations Award category. It will play at NZIFF: New Zealand’s Best, Melbourne International Film Festival, and others to be announced. Ira is currently based in the UK, where she is working on the development of her debut feature film.

Womb
A young Māori girl is caught in a racially loaded custody battle between her conservative adoptive parents and her birth mother. Born of experiences that shaped her own childhood, Ira Hetaraka’s moving debut is a tough and tender exploration of family, cultural displacement and the ways in which systemic power continues to impose Western prejudices on First Nations peoples.

 

Ray Edmonds is a director/cinematographer who has been working in the film industry for 15 years, working his way up through the camera department, from clapper loader to DOP. Coming off of his award-winning seven year career as a cinematographer (Al Guilford Emerging Cinematographer Award, feature films Cousins and We Are Still Here, and countless commercials and short films), Ray looks to bring that knowledge and talent to directing his own creative projects. In 2021 he released his debut short film, True Love, and more recently, has been directing commercials with production company Collider. He is currently developing the feature True Love and series Hotel Matipo. Ray grew up in the Bay Of Plenty, in his Maori culture and around the marae. He is a fluent speaker of te reo and an active member of his community in his iwi of Te Whakatohea.

ACE
Riding along with his imaginary daredevil friend ACE, six-year-old Jimmy sets out on an epic quest to save his parents’ marriage. We Are Still Here cinematographer Raymond Edwards makes a vibrant directorial debut with this wonderfully bright and visually inventive adventure. The fanciful world of imagination and play doubles as a beautiful portrait of a young child connecting with his whakapapa. Featuring a soulful soundtrack in te reo by Aotearoa musician Mara TK.

 

Lucy Suess is a New Zealand-American writer/director/editor based in New York City. Her award-winning shorts, Shadow Cut and Pack Rat, have screened at leading festivals around the world, including Toronto and Melbourne International Film Festivals, Atlanta and New Orleans Film Festivals and Tallinn Black Nights, earning awards in Directing, Screenwriting, Cinematography and Acting. She has received funding grants and talent development opportunities from the New Zealand Film Commission and was mentored by Dame Gaylene Preston. Lucy is currently developing her debut feature films, Needles Inn and Big Sky.

Pack Rat
Baby Teeth is forever out to prove she’s one of the guys: talking shit, stealing beer, accepting dares. But will she take it too far? Lucy Suess’ depiction of a teenage girl trying to find her place among a group of male friends gets to the heart of a complex, often contradictory, adolescent desire: wanting to preserve your identity while fitting in with the crowd. An endearing slice of rural New Zealand, Pack Rat comes complete with a needle-drop of Garageland’s Flying Nun classic ‘Fingerpops.’

 

2025 MIFF ACCELERATOR EXPRESS LAB NEW ZEALAND DIRECTORS

Aroha Awarau is an award-winning playwright and filmmaker. His short film Home (2015), which he wrote and produced, was followed by Disrupt (2020), for which he was the screenwriter and associate producer. Most recently, he directed Puti, which is nominated for Best Short Film at the 2025 New Zealand International Film Festival. Films Maisuka, a documentary he directed, and Cherries, a romantic comedy which he wrote, are also currently screening at film festivals. He is developing his first feature film, Hidden, a story about human trafficking in Auckland, which was written during the screenwriting accelerator at Māoriland, a residency for indigenous filmmakers supported by Sundance and imagineNATIVE. He is also writing Redemption League, a feature film about a troubled and disgraced rugby league star who finds purpose and redemption in prison.

Jolin Lee is a non-binary narrative filmmaker of Singaporean Chinese heritage, based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Jolin explores themes of family, community, and sociology through narrative analogies. Their debut short Ur Dead to Me screened at numerous festival audiences in 2018 including the Academy Award qualifying Palm Springs Shortfest. In 2019, Jolin served as a writer and editor for the award-winning local series The Eggplant. In 2022, Jolin was part of the DEGANZ Emerging Women Filmmakers Incubator to develop their feature film, as well as the Episode One pilot development programme through the PASC. Their third short film Chrysanthemum, funded through the NZFC’s Catalyst programme, is set to screen in NZIFF’s NZ’s Best programme in 2025. Jolin is also a creative and the current head of post production at Auckland advertising agency Motion Sickness.

 

 

Saito Lilo traces his ancestry to the villages of Gagaifo, Matafa’a and Moata’a in Samoa. He is a proud resident of South Auckland, which inspired his award-winning debut short film, The Last Sunday. It explores the tension between money and church in a Pasifika community. The film won the Wellington UNESCO City of Film Award for Best Short Film at the New Zealand International Film Festival Ngā Whanaunga Māori & Pacific Shorts programme in 2023. Saito is a graduate of the Unitec Performing and Screen Arts programme, specialising in writing and directing for screen and theatre. He was selected as one of seven students in Jane Campion’s prestigious A Wave In The Ocean filmmaking programme and is currently part of the 2025 cohort.

 

Maza White is an Iranian-born writer and director based in Aotearoa. She speaks multiple languages and has lived across several continents, giving her work a deep, cross-cultural perspective. Her NZFC-funded short film Daughter of God won Best Screenplay at the 2023 Show Me Shorts Festival and was selected by Niki Caro for NZIFF’s New Zealand’s Best. She holds a Master of Creative Writing and is an alum of DEGANZ’s Incubator and Script to Screen’s FilmUp, where she was mentored by Garth Davis. Maza is fascinated by the nuanced layers beneath character behaviour. Her voice is raw, visceral, and intuitive, with a controlled intensity shaped by years of dedicated craft. She often explores themes of identity, belonging, and female resilience.

 

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DEGANZ Members’ Works Screening at MIFF

Congratulations to the DEGANZ members whose films have been selected for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)!

Marlon Williams: Two Worlds – Ngā Ao E Rua, edited by Josh Yong (DEGANZ), is screening as part of the Music on Film programme. This collection of films showcases cinematic explorations of sound, performance, and the stories behind music.

Fellow DEGANZ members Raymond Edwards, Lucy Suess, and Ira Hetaraka have films in the Accelerator Shorts programmes. In addition to their work screening in the festival, the writer/directors will attend the corresponding Accelerator Lab. The professional development programme is aimed at nurturing the selected directors on their journeys towards their first long-form work. The four-day lab includes workshops, screenings, seminars, and networking events focusing on the business and creative aspects of the film industry.

Features

Marlon Williams: Two Worlds – Ngā Ao E Rua

Editor: Josh Yong

Feeling burnt out from the touring cycle, acclaimed New Zealand musician Marlon Williams returns to his quiet coastal hometown of Ōhinehou/Lyttelton to work on a life and career-changing undertaking: recording an album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, in his ancestral language of te reo Māori. Using song to explore his split cultural identity – part pākehā, part Māori, from both Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tai iwi – the project finds Williams reconnecting with his heritage, deepening his community and reclaiming his reo.

Shorts

ACE

Writer/Director: Raymond Edwards

Riding along with his imaginary daredevil friend ACE, six-year-old Jimmy sets out on an epic quest to save his parents’ marriage. We Are Still Here cinematographer Raymond Edwards makes a vibrant directorial debut with this wonderfully bright and visually inventive adventure. The fanciful world of imagination and play doubles as a beautiful portrait of a young child connecting with his whakapapa. Featuring a soulful soundtrack in te Reo by Aotearoa musician Mara TK.

Pack Rat

Writer/Director: Lucy Suess

Baby Teeth is forever out to prove she’s one of the guys: talking shit, stealing beer, accepting dares. But will she take it too far? Lucy Suess’ depiction of a teenage girl trying to find her place among a group of male friends gets to the heart of a complex, often contradictory, adolescent desire: wanting to preserve your identity while fitting in with the crowd. An endearing slice of rural New Zealand, Pack Rat comes complete with a needle-drop of Garageland’s Flying Nun classic ‘Fingerpops.’

Womb

Writer/Director: Ira Hetaraka

A young Māori girl is caught in a racially loaded custody battle between her conservative adoptive parents and her birth mother. Born of experiences that shaped her own childhood, Ira Hetaraka’s moving debut is a tough and tender exploration of family, cultural displacement and the ways in which systemic power continues to impose Western prejudices on First Nations peoples.

 

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‘A Dog’s Show’ Returns to Local Screens

DEGANZ members Alex Galvin and Celia Jaspers are bringing beloved TV series A Dog’s Show back to local screens in a new family feature film.

Set in 1970s rural Aotearoa, A Dog’s Show tells the story of a disillusioned former sheepdog triallist who must come out of retirement—guided by his spirited granddaughter and their loyal dogs—to win one final trial and save the family farm.

The original series ran from 1977 to 1992 and cemented itself as a Kiwi classic. In each trial, a farmer equipped with whistles and commands instructed a sheepdog to wrangle a flock of sheep along a course or into a pen while the bearded and Swannie-clad John Gordon provided commentary.

Alex comments on the project, saying,

One of my fondest childhood memories was watching A Dog’s Show every Sunday night with my family. With this film, I want to honour that simplicity and charm, while telling a story full of warmth, humour and heart. I know that audiences—whether they know the original series or not—will fall in love with it.

Alex is the film’s writer, director, and one of three producers. Celia and Mark Westerby join him as producers, with renowned filmmaker Timothy White as EP. Scottish actor Graham McTavish, known for Outlander, The Witcher, The Hobbit and House of the Dragon, is set to play the role of Jack, a proud but weathered farmer facing one last chance at redemption.

Filming will take place across the greater Wellington region, with authentic dog trial sequences choreographed by Aotearoa’s top experts in the sport, using local farms, sheep and fully trained dogs.

 

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Feel-Good Feature ‘Tinā’ Set to Release Nationwide in the US

Feel-good feature Tinā, edited by Luke Haigh (DEGANZ), is celebrating its American theatrical release on 29 August with Rialto Distribution.

Since its world premiere, the film has won the hearts of audiences across Aotearoa, Australia, and the Pacific. It’s earned over $6 million in box office revenue, landing it in the top 10 highest grossing New Zealand films.

In addition to box office success, the film has won accolades such as the Palm Springs’ Best Narrative Feature Audience Award, the Perth Festival’s Audience Award, and the Seattle International Film Festival’s Golden Space Needle Award.

In an article with Deadline, Rialto’s Managing Director Kelly Rogers says,

Tinā is a rare gem – brimming with authenticity, rhythm and emotional power. We’re incredibly proud to champion this uniquely Pasifika story and deliver it to global audiences hungry for heartfelt, original cinema.

Congrats to Luke and the team on the continued success!

 

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The Highs and Lows of NZ’s Screen Industry

View from the Top banner

Last weekend was the latest iteration of the Big Screen Symposium, and it was full of highs and lows.

Great speakers, great sessions, and some interesting sneak peeks at tantalising, upcoming  NZ films, but some sobering statistics from NZ On Air.

In their latest stakeholder survey, 78% of respondents say their levels of pessimism have increased over the last two years. Only 35% of respondents agree that NZ On Air makes the right funding choices, while 43% feel it is focused on funding the right things. In these two areas, the trends have been against NZ on Air’s decision-making across the last five years.

One of the biggest questions that has been plaguing me and many others  around the screen industry is why are so many people out of work in the domestic screen sector when the levels of production funding are only down at NZFC?

Some say that it’s actually the more established workers who usually work for established companies that are unemployed, while NZ On Air funding flows to more projects with emerging companies and workers.

I took a look at the July 2024 – April 2025 funding announcements for Non-Fiction and Scripted. Just over $85 million went out during that period; $33.6 mil. to Non-Fiction and $51.7 mil. to Scripted.

Of that total $85 mil., at least $55.5 mil. (about 63%) went to long-established production companies, while at least 55% of the Non-Fiction funding and 68% of the Scripted funding went to long-established companies.

At first look, then,  the ‘emerging’ hypothesis doesn’t seem to make sense. Unless the established companies are hiring more emerging workers than established workers. That could well be the case. Or there could be other reasons. It’s a conundrum that is doing the rounds at the moment. It’s going to take somebody willing to dig a lot deeper than I have to proffer some robust thoughts on the matter.

One thing is absolutely clear, though: while the domestic production industry flounders, the serviced production industry is facing dire peril with no concrete projects in place apart from the two international productions here right now. Everybody will be hearing more about this shortly, and not just from me.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

 

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