DEGANZ Watch List: Series Galore

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Check out these new series from DEGANZ members Rouzie Hassanova, Robyn Grace, and Jack Woon. It’s great to see DEGANZ members in the mix of new local series on both primetime and online. These shows offer insight into different cultural identities within Aotearoa and a peek behind of curtain of amateur theatre.

Ahi Wānganga

Factual Web Series

Director: Rouzie Hassanova

Ahi Wānanga (The Fires of Discussion) is a six-part web series exploring what identity, belonging and resilience is to 12 young people from Aotearoa’s Muslim and Māori communities.


Happiness

Narrative Series

Director: Robyn Grace

Charlie Summers, ex-Kiwi Broadway director, is forced by circumstance to return to his home town of Tauranga, where his mum makes him join her amateur theatre society.


Kaputī with the Cousins

Video Podcast Series

Online Editor & Colourist: Jack Woon

Kaputī with the Cousins is a video podcast series following cousins Jade Lee-Walker and Kura Turuwhenua, as they deal with kaupapa Māori in the way they always do; with a kaputī and a kōrero.

 

To see more recent work from DEGANZ members, check out our other DEGANZ Watch Lists!

 

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Macleod is Making Waves

Congratulations to Incubator alum Isla Macleod (DEGANZ) for being selected for the second iteration of A Wave in the Ocean (AWITO).

Through the professional development programme, the seven selected filmmakers will engage in a full-time 15-week film intensive course in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Under the guidance of Academy Award-winning writer and director Jane Campion, they will also receive funding to practice their craft with a short film.

AWITO is founded on the belief that filmmakers have a sacred psyche that dreams to express itself poetically, humorously, and dramatically through visual storytelling. The students will learn through experience, explore their curiosity, and learn the balance of risk and ambition.

All the best to Isla and the other participants as the course kicks off this month!

 

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Sainsbury’s ‘Small Town Scandal’ Series Coming Soon

DEGANZ members Ghazaleh Gol and Calvin Sang are directing the upcoming comedy mystery series Small Town Scandal for Sky NZ Originals.

Adapted from comedian Tom Sainsbury’s hit podcast, the show follows disgraced journalist Toby (played by Sainsbury) as he investigates the suspicious lawn mower-related death of his millionaire uncle. As Toby dives into the whodunnit mystery set in the fictional town of Te Hōiho, the show questions which of the quirky small-town suspects is behind the scandal.

While Sainsbury voiced all the characters on the podcast, he will be joined by Morgana O’Reilly, Alexander England, and more to fill out the show’s zany cast of characters.

Small Town Scandal is currently filming in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington and is set to come out later this year. We look forward to watching!

 

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Forster is Seeking Support for Documentary Feature ‘Abducted’

DEGANZ member Tony Forster is crowdfunding on Indiegogo for his second documentary feature Abducted.

In 1973, nine of Anke’s extended family were arrested by the Stasi in East Germany for trying to escape to the West. At just two years old, she is taken from her family and put in an institution for political prisoners. Five turbulent years later, two strangers appear to take her to the West where she is reunited with her mother and father. However, she does not recognise them and the reunion feels more like another abduction to the young girl.

Now Anke returns to East Germany with her husband and children for work. Being back at the place of her childhood trauma brings forgotten and repressed memories to the surface. Through the film, she seeks to tell her story to not only process her past but to promote the need for the world to care for all children living in political conflict.

Abducted has been a long time coming, as Tony and Anke met while he was making his first feature An Accidental Berliner. So moved by her story, Tony promised to return to Germany to put her story on the screen. And after many years of delays, Tony is back in Germany to do so.

The mostly self-funded film is looking for a $5,000 boost to ensure the next shooting period is able to be completed.

You can find out more about the project and donate on Abuducted‘s Indiegogo page.

 

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Dive into ‘Secrets at Red Rocks’

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New family drama series Secrets at Red Rocks, directed by David Stubbs (DEGANZ), is out now on Neon and Sky Go.

The eight-part show is an adaptation of the award-winning novel of the same name by NZ author Rachel King.

Set on the rugged Wellington coast with a distinctly 80s feel, the story follows Jake who is drawn into a world of mythical creatures and adventure. While feeling lost and ignored by the adults in his life, Jake entertains himself by exploring the unique Red Rocks at Ōwhiro Bay, where he stumbles across a sealskin hidden on the rocky shores. He takes it home to keep under his bed and unknowingly tangles himself into a journey of selkie mythology. The show weaves Māori and Celtic mythology into Jake’s coming-of-age tale, connecting nature’s mysterious ways into his path of discovering where he fits into the world around him.

Check out Secrets at Red Rocks on Neon or Sky Go for a fun adventure the whole family will enjoy.

 

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