We're celebrating with the WIFTers involved in this year's best New Zealand short films, as chosen by guest selector and cinematography legend Leon Narbey, from a shortlist of 84 entries. Here they are, with film notes by Leon Narbey.
Book your tickets to see the films, and don't forget to cast your vote for your favourite (WIFTer!) film to win the Audience Choice Award.
Run Rabbit
Director/Screenplay Robyn Paterson
Producer Paula Boock
A refugee boy in an alien landscape. A delicate work where reflections of war and family tragedy are triggered by everyday actions. Captured with a very real sense of place and an unhurried openness of storytelling.
Charmer
Producer Olivia Shanks
A dating couple's first real encounter. Intimate and sensitive performances where sexuality, loneliness and age are covered in unhurried moments. Enhanced use of colour expresses the feelings of the situation.
Falling Up
Director/Screenplay Chelsie Preston
Editor Sarah Grohnert
When a relationship collapses and the mother is trapped with the child, love and anguish are portrayed in an almost raw documentary way where all the emotional and telling details are present.
WIFTers also feature in two other shorts categories:
The 'Cinema of Unease' is alive and well in this stylish collectionof eight Kiwi shorts, titled 8 Uneasy Pieces.
Bats - Producer Desray Armstrong. Hard-partying twenty-somethings crash through a soupy Wellington night out. Michelle Savill delivers a stylish ensemble piece about sex, freedom, friendship and chicken kebabs.
The Brother - Producer Matt Noonan
A prodigal son hunts atonement in the rugged wilderness. The imposing landscapes of the Southern Alps form the backdrop for this tense tale of murder and redemption.
Under the Bridge - Director/Screenplay Lauren Porteous
A runaway boy meets a homeless man under a bridge. Lauren Porteous premieres an extended cut of her 48 Hours prizewinning short film.
Ng? Whanaunga M?ori Pasifika Shorts 2018
A collection of M?ori and Pasifika short films portraying the connections of bloodlines, spirit paths, passion and determination on screen of the Polynesian peoples.
Mouse - Producer Alyx Duncan
A strained relationship is tested by the encroachment of a chaotic natural world. "When love has left the room, the rodents return to breed resentment," - Ng? Whanaunga M?ori Pasifika curator Leo Koziol.