Loading Docs: the documentary initiative that produces short films and big talent.
Founded by WIFT member Julia Parnell of Notable Pictures, Loading Docs is back for a third year to launch another ten cutting-edge, 3-minute shorts that tell true stories of transformation, growth, adversity and hope. The theme for this year's selection is 'Change'.
And finalists Morgan Leigh Stewart, Lucy Cole and Arani Cuthbert are also WIFT members.
The 2016 LOADING DOCS: CHANGE shorts
Blood Sugar
Dir: Joe Hitchcock
Prod: Morgan Leigh Stewart WIFT member
Location: Auckland
Four-year-old Dahlia leads us in her bittersweet world of blood, needles and sugar.
Bludgeon
Dir/Prod: Ryan Heron, Andy Deere
Location: Taranaki
Knight-in-waiting Martainn must battle his inner demons if he hopes to achieve his dream of becoming a champion in his beloved sport of full contact medieval combat.
Imagine the World is Ending
Dir/Prod: Doug Dillaman, Brendan Withy
Location: Auckland
Can two schoolboys change the world with a poem?
Same but Different
Dir: Louise Leitch
Prod: Sue Ruffell
Location: Christchurch
Best mates, Byron and Neil, must re-calibrate their friendship when Bryon transitions from a man to a woman.
Street Smart
Dir: Leigh Minarapa
Prod: Nathaniel Lees
Location: Wellington
Being visible in a world that doesn't want to see you.
The Impeccable Larry Woods Dir: Eldon Booth
Prod: Alex Lovell
Location: AucklandLarry Woods is a shoeshine man on a mission to peddle goodwill and cheer; a far cry from his hedonistic days as a member of Auckland's wealthy elite.
Water for Gold
Dir: Rose Archer
Prod: Sandy Wijetunge
Location: Auckland
An animated conversation with leading legal professor, Jane Kelsey, on how international trade law is leading us to trade water for gold.
How Mr and Mrs Gock Saved the Kumara
Dir: Felicity Morgan-Rhind
Prod: Arani Cuthbert WIFT member
Location: Auckland
When two young Chinese refugees fall in love in 1955 their passion for each other and the land changes the way New Zealand farms kumara, our iconic indigenous crop.
Aka'o?u: Ta?tatau in the Cook Islands Dir: Robert George
Prod: Lucy Cole WIFT member
Location: Rarotonga
Against the odds an Englishman living with Cystic Fibrosis who has devoted his life to learning the ancient Polynesian art of ta?tatau (tattoo) and now he must find the right apprentice to continue the tradition, before it's too late.
The Colourist
Dir: Greg Wood, Peter Alsop
Prod: Declan Cahill
Location: Auckland
A photo colourist from the 1950s picks up the cotton wool one more time to showcase the wonderful aesthetic of a lost art.
Loading Docs is a Notable Pictures initiative, produced by WIFT member Julia Parnell and Anna Jackson with the support of NZ On Air's Digital Media Fund and the New Zealand Film Commission.
For more information visit Loading Docs.
2014 and 2015 Loading Docs shorts are available to watch on TVNZ OnDemand here.
As in previous years, the 2016 Loading Docs shorts are supported by NZ On Air and the New Zealand Film Commission. They will be launched online on the Loading Docs website and on TVNZ OnDemand. Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming crowd funding campaigns and for launch details.
See previous year's short documentaries here.