Don’t miss the chance to watch DEGANZ member Paolo Rotondo‘s Maunga Cassino during NZIFF this year! The 2022 short is screening before the Australian feature film Sweet As during the festival’s runs in Auckland and Wellington.
Set during World War II, a Māori warrior, an Italian deserter, and a scrawny rooster are trapped behind enemy lines. Despite the language barriers and international chaos, the two men find common ground, understanding, and compassion.
The film is based on an infamously bloody battle in 1944 where the 28 Māori Battalion fought Germany in the Italian village of Cassino. In an interview with Te Ao Māori News, Paolo talks about the duty he feels to tell this story and the production team’s aim to use cinema to heal from the past.
Earlier this year, Maunga Cassino won the WeShort Award for Best Short Film at ORA! FEST , an international film festival in Monopoli, Italy with a focus on the environment, art, and social justice.
The film is a dance and spoken word performance that explores the intersectionality of Māori and Pākehā descendants, centred around the late Tiahuia Te Puea Hērangi Ramihana Gray (Ngāi Tahu, Rangitāne, Tainui). Tiahuia is known for her extensive public service in Wellington. Throughout her life, she was a taurima at Te Herenga Wake Marae at Victoria University, a Māori advisor to Wellington City Council, a te reo Māori teacher, and a kai karanga who welcomed many notable guests to Wellington.
However, her legacy spans beyond her career. Tiahuia’s daughter, Merenia Gray, shared that her mother “was renowned for bringing Māori and Pākehā together and making everyone feel comfortable” in an article tribute with Stuff.
Merenia choreographed the dance, making the work a love letter to Tiahuia and a tribute to all mothers.
Well done to Mary-Lyn and the team; it is exciting to see Aotearoa stories told internationally!
http://degnz.sensedesign.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Karanga-WIFF.jpg4561200admin/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DEGANZ_logo_home.pngadmin2023-07-17 16:43:322023-07-18 14:20:51Chambers’ Arthouse Tribute ‘Karanga’ in the US
With so many DEGANZ members featuring in NZIFF, it can be hard to keep track of them all! Here is a complete list of our members’ projects and their screening times in Tāmaki Makarau (stay tuned for other regions):
Aotearoa’s Feature Films
The Paragon
A cosmic comedy horror where a hit-and-run victim learns psychic abilities to reap revenge on the car that hit him.
While encouraging the public not to panic during the Covid-19 pandemic, microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles became the target of misogynistic hate and conspiracy that threatened her professional and personal life.
A dramatic and moving interpretation of the contemporary opera of the same title. Inspired by the events and life of Kiwi writer Janet Frame, the film sheds light on mental health from the past and present.
A career-spanning documentary that follows legendary 90s rock band King Loser on their 2016, farewell tour. The film offers an earnest and affectionate portrait of the band through rich archive footage and reflective present-day interviews.
A celebration of the life and art of avant-garde New Zealand photographer and publisher Grant Sheehan and his creative Artificial Intelligence (AI) explorations.
An expertly assembled retrospective of the radical theatrical troupe Red Mole using archival footage, photographs scrapbooks, posters, and stage designs. The documentary considers the troupe’s romantic goals, tenacious performers, and tumultuous career.
When a 57-year-old widow moves to Aotearoa from India, she’s forced to confront her grief by completing an ordinary ritual despite the extraordinary circumstances: quarantine.
An aspiring ornithologist must process the loss and grief of her grandmother’s passing while braving the Aotearoa wilderness alone.
Writer/Director: Douglas Brooks (Te Ati Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngāti Pākehā)
Screening with Features
Maunga Cassino
A Māori warrior, an Italian deserter, and a scrawny rooster are trapped behind enemy lines. What could possibly go wrong? This short is screening with the Australian feature film Sweet As.
http://degnz.sensedesign.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NZIFF-deganz-screenings.jpg4561200admin/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DEGANZ_logo_home.pngadmin2023-07-05 18:20:362023-07-18 16:30:48Catch DEGANZ Members at NZIFF
Congratulations to DEGANZ members Joe Murdie, Sophie Black, and James Fink-Jensen for their success at the 2023 Vision Feast awards!
Joe won big with the Rubber Monkey Best Aotearoa Project Award for WALK. Along with the accolade, he received $3000 worth of rentals from Rubber Monkey and the festival’s iconic Golden Chompy trophy. Written and directed by Joe, the short follows Amelia on a seemingly casual stroll in the wilderness. However, the innocent and carefree nature of the walk grows increasingly at odds with the protagonist’s actions.
Sophie’s animation-hybrid Believing is Seeing earned her Best Documentary. Joined by Dr. Robert Bartholomew, the world’s leading expert on mass psychogenic illnesses, the film investigates the mysterious outbreak of tic disorders on TikTok. You can watch Believing is Seeing on Youtube and Vimeo now!
James took home the Emerging NZ Filmmaking Talent Award for Strangers, which he wrote, directed, produced, and edited. The film dwells on the nervous pressure of first impressions on a date. With a cast of zany characters, a simple cafe date goes awry on an emotional roller coaster.
Well done to the winners and all the nominated directors. It’s always exciting to see our members recognised for their hard work!
http://degnz.sensedesign.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Chompy.jpg4561200admin/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DEGANZ_logo_home.pngadmin2023-07-05 16:26:182023-07-06 15:50:36DEGANZ Members Ate at Vision Feast
Inky Pinky Ponky, co-directed by Ramon Te Wake (DEGANZ), offers a new take on the classic high school romcom, cementing itself in the hearts of young LGBTQIA+ and Pasifika viewers.
Based on the real-life experiences of co-writer and lead actress Amanaki Prescott-Faletau, the show opens as Lisa, a fakaleitī (transgender) student, starts at her fourth high school after countless struggles with bullying. However, this year looks like it could be different when the captain of the first XV rugby team, Mose, takes an interest in her. Unknown to Lisa, Mose’ friends dared him to make her fall in love with him. Surprisingly to Mose, he catches genuine feelings for her in the process.
Through the single hour-long episode, Lisa navigates intolerance, ignorance, and bigotry in her day-to-day life as a high school girl. In addition to typical struggles teenagers face, like insecurity and self-discovery, Lisa grapples with bathroom politics and the school’s use of her dead name. The show also explores the early stages of Lisa’s relationship with Mose, highlighting how the relationship will come with more baggage than the typical high school relationship.
Lisa’s home life is also highlighted through her strained relationship with her conservative Catholic Tongan mother, who struggles to accept Lisa’s identity.
The show has received great praise for its accurate and authentic representation of the Pasifika and rainbow communities. While acknowledging Lisa’s traumas, the show ultimately celebrates the triumphs of queer adolescence.
You can watch Inky Pinky Ponky on MĀORI+2 now before it streams internationally on The Coconet TV on 20 July!
http://degnz.sensedesign.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/InkyPinkyPonky.jpg4561200admin/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DEGANZ_logo_home.pngadmin2023-07-05 11:26:432023-07-06 17:11:31‘Inky Pinky Ponky’: A New Kind of Teenage Romcom
