‘Mysterious Ways’ Available on TVNZ+

Mysterious Ways, edited by DEGANZ member Peter Roberts, is out now on TVNZ+!

The feature film centres on the relationship between a Vicar and his Samoan boyfriend. The lack of support from their religious and cultural communities is exasperated when a media storm kicks up around their engagement. The film unpacks taboos of queerness within the Anglican Church and Samoan culture, calling attention to the challenges that many members of the LGBTQIA+ community face when on their journeys of self-acceptance.

The film has been making the festival rounds over the past year and celebrated its Aotearoa premiere in August 2023. It has since collected several positive reviews and played in a prime-time TVNZ slot over the 2024 Easter holiday weekend.

If you missed it on TV, you can stream the film on TVNZ+.

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‘E Blacks’ on the Big Screen

E Blacks, directed by Ashley Pitman (DEGANZ) and produced by fellow member Annamarie Connors is screening in the 2024 Auckland Independent Film Showcase.

The 17-minute documentary dives into the world of competitive gaming through the perspective of Sam ‘Fury’ Johnson. Sam regrets wasting time in university when he could have been focusing on his real passion: gaming. Now, he has an opportunity to redeem himself in the gaming world at the national championship. If he and his team win, they will have their shot to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Esports Championships.

E Blacks was funded and created through Loading Docs in 2022 and has since been available to watch on RNZ. It will also screen at the Bridgeway Cinema in Auckland along with four other short films and one feature in the showcase.

The Auckland Independent Film Showcase highlights works by local independent filmmakers. If you’re interested in a night of indie Kiwi films, tickets are available here!

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‘Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue’: Success from Sundance to Māoriland

Congratulations Vea Mafile’o (DEGANZ) for winning the People’s Choice Award for Best Short Film (Drama) at the Māoriland Film Festival with Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue.

The 17-minute short follows Katherine, a speech-language therapist assigned to an elderly Tongan man with bilingual aphasia. Through their struggle to communicate, the film delves into themes of shame, belonging, and the power of love as a universal language.

Māoriland is the film’s second festival under its belt after premiering at Sundance in January 2024, having caught the attention of international audiences. In an interview with RNZ, Vea and writer Luciane Buchanan spoke about how the story is widely accessible as it explores “who we are without language”. They both shared how their experiences of not being able to speak Tongan were a driving force behind telling the story.

We look forward to seeing where Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue goes next!

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Maxwell’s Work Lives on at MoMA

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) recently acquired DEGANZ member Garth Maxwell‘s films Jack Be Nimble and Naughty Little Peeptoe for its film collection. Through the museum’s programme, Garth’s films will be restored, preserved, and programmed in exhibitions, cementing his work in art history.

Jack Be Nimble, a feature about siblings from a broken home and their journys to reunite, received critical acclaim when initially released in 1993, but struggled commercially due to issues with the theatrical release. Yet, the art-house horror has endured with audiences, leading to its selection for MoMA’s Horror: Messaging the Monstrous programme in 2022. The film exhibition series explored themes of gender and sex in the horror genre.

The museum calls the feature “A classic in the canon of gendered horror,” and that,

Maxwell brings an empathy and sense of urgency to his film’s trans-sensitive themes that could not feel more contemporary.

Garth’s experimental documentary Naughty Little Peeptoe, co-directed by Peter Wells, has earned a spot in the collection for its unique origins and subject matter. The 35-minute documentary stemmed from a casual interview with Doug George, a shoe designer and fetishist, while he was battling AIDS. The tell-all, recorded by Garth and collaborator Debra Daley, about Doug’s life and artistic expression through heels developed into a scandalously funny film about language, inspiration, originality, and survival.

MoMA film curator Ron Magliozzi commented,

Naughty Little Peeptoe honors its subject’s fulfilling commitment to fetish and offers witty testimony to the durable, liberating spirit of a queer perspective.

Garth’s film will join the 30,000 films and 1.5 million film stills in MoMA’s collection as part of the museum’s efforts to preserve and celebrate cinematic work and history.

Congratulations, Garth!

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Tuiburelevu’s ‘K-Polys’ Explores the World of K-Pop Fans in Aotearoa

DEGANZ members Litia Tuiburelevu, Josh Yong, and Isaiah Tour are at the helm of The Spinoff’s new documentary, K-Polys.

Directed by Litia, the 20-minute short is an intimate video portrait of three young Polynesians enchanted by K-Pop. It follows Boba, Ethan, and Ashley, delving into how K-Pop has influenced their lives, especially in relation to their Polynesian identities. From self-expression to community to a passion for dance, the music genre has uniquely impacted who they are.

Josh edited the series with Isaiah as assistant editor. Isaiah also created all the doco’s motion graphics.

K-Polys is available to watch on The Spinoff here.

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