mediatheatre 6pm
NZ, 110 min, Exempt, Siapo Cinema festival
A programme of vibrant documentary films that explore various forms of Pasifika art and expression. Includes: Savage Symbols (Makerita Urale, 2002), Velvet Dreams (Sima Urale, 1997) and Fat Freddy's Drop - Behind The Scenes Mother Mother (Sarah Hunter/Transmit Media, 2013).
$8 / $6
mediatheatre 4.15pm & 6pm
100 mins, PG - Low level violence, Siapo Cinema festival
A 100 minute line-up of inspiring recent short film and multimedia work, fresh from the 2013 Pollywood festival in Auckland. The Pollywood programme presents films by grass roots through to established practitioners, and is a showcase of Pasifika stories and ideas on screen. The films are presented courtesy of Craig Fasi. Pollywood film maker Chantelle Burgoyne will introduce the 6pm screening.
$8 / $6
Pelorus Trust mediagallery
Daily (except Sunday)
Gavin Hipkins' short film The Dam (O) - which showed at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival and New Zealand International Film Festival last year - screens at the Film Archive. The Dam (O)incorporates naturalist and abstracted footage from Auckland's five dams built during the 1920s. Navigating the metaphor of the dam as a psychological block, this poetic film explores the potential of drama, absurdity, and suspense.
Free admission
A moving image exhibition by 2014 Film Archive Curator-at-Large, Gareth Watkins, about New Zealanders and their pets. From children playing with the cat in the backyard to the whole family washing the dog in a large tub; there are hundreds of everyday moments that are lovingly photographed. What is perhaps more surprising are other types of pets - a tiger playing with its human family; a cow eating at the kitchen table; a pet magpie and cat enjoying each other's company. The various screens in the exhibition offer up a number of themes - pet and calf days, parades, group and individual pets and curiosities. Alongside these playful moments are a number of sequences that show another side of human/animal relationships - the chimps tea party, the organised dog fight and what society does with unwanted pets.