WIFT NZ News

Filmmaker and Wiftie Pietra Brettkelly alongside fellow Wiftie Chelsea Winstanley are bringing their award-winning documentary Crocodile home to New Zealand audiences as part of NZIFF!

The film won Best Film (Viewpoints) at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival, you can read more about that HERE.

Crocodile (2026)

Directors/Producers: Pietra Brettkelly, The Critics

Executive Producers: Fran Wyborn,…

We are thrilled to announce our partnership with TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival)! 

Any WIFT NZ member planning on traveling to TIFF this year will have access to massive industry discounts on festival passes.

This will include:

• Access to screenings, including Press & Market Screenings (formerly P&I Screenings), Market Screenings, and Public Screenings, with varying…

After stunning audiences at Sundance then becoming the toast of the Nouvelle Vagues film festival in Biarritz winning the Grand Prix, Big Girl's Don't Cry is coming home to Aotearoa as the coveted opening night film at NZIFF!

Big Girls Don’t Cry (2026)

Producers: Vicky Pope, Thomas Coppell

Cinematography: María Inés Manchego

Production Designer: Sarah…

With a global fanbase grown over 104 episodes of their hit BAFTA-nominated TV show, Kiri and Lou are getting the BIG SCREEN treatment! With WIFT NZ member Fiona Copland as producer, Kiri and Lou Go Raa! is ready to delight audiences young and old at this year's NZIFF as New Zealand’s first stop-motion animated feature.

Produced by Wifties Alix Whittaker, Morgan Leigh Stewart, Ilai Amar and shot by cinematograper Bailey Broome-Peake, Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant is coming home to NZIFF!

And not only that, they've kindly gifted us 5 double passes to see their brilliant body-horror film on their opening night at The Civic in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland - how…

After a world premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival in February 2026 followed by sreenings at the Sydney Film Festival, feature documentary Lomu will now be shared with New Zealand audiences at NZIFF.

The film is directed by Wiftie Vea Mafile'o alongside Gavin Fitzgerald and produced by Emma Slade & Victoria Dabbs alongside Victoria…

When documentarian and Wiftie Gwen Isaac was a child, her single mother made her believe it was just them against the world. But as she grew older, the unpredictable storms of living with Merrilyn — nicknamed “mad Merry” in their Far North fishing town of Kororāreka Russell — became an acute source of shame and…

We sense another cult classic in our midst this NZIFF, and it goes by the name of The Ungrateful Tenant, edited by Wiftie Kerri Roggio and EP'd by fellow WIFT NZ member Mary-Lyn Chambers

The Ungrateful Tenant

New Zealand horror has given us cannibal stoners, suburban vampires, carnivorous sheep and ghost sharks. But The Ungrateful…

Jane Campion's Wave in the Ocean cohort of filmmakers have their work showcased at this years NZIFF, and with many a Wiftie in the fold - congrats to all!

A Wave in the Ocean

A cohort of emerging writers and directors were selected for A Wave in the Ocean, a 12-month intensive driven by filmmaking…

Ngā Whanaunga Aotearoa: New Zealand's Best 2026 Programme Two features two stunning short films from WIFT Members: Lion Rock and The Girl Next Door.

A total of 130 films were submitted for this year’s competition, with 14 finalists chosen by the selectors. A jury of three will select the winner of the $5000 Umbrella Best…

Ngā Whanaunga Aotearoa: New Zealand's Best 2026 Programme One features a swathe of up and coming plus established filmmakers, many of the them WIFT NZ members highlighted below - congrats to all for their selection!

Now in its second year as a combined programme, Ngā Whanaunga: Aotearoa New Zealand’s Best presents the very best of…

New Andrew Niccol film I, Object arrives in kiwi cinemas on July 23rd, and the filmmakers have very kindly offered WIFT NZ 4 family passes to attend their premiere screening at the mighty Embassy in Wellington!

The film stars Karl Urban, Anna Faris, Bentley Storteboom and Skywalker Hughes and is produced by Wiftie Polly Fryer.

DocEdge 2026 has announced their winners for this year's festival, and among them we have WIFT Winners!

BEST NEW ZEALAND CINEMATOGRAPHY:  Ranginui: Call of the Ice

Dir: Julia Sartorio

Producer: Miriama Kamo, Rangi Matamua, Mataia Keepa, Julia Sartorio

BEST NEW ZEALAND DIRECTOR: Sukundimi Walks Before Me

Producer: Kerry Warkia

NEW ZEALAND STUDENT AWARD: Best Tertiary…

Excellent news for swathe of WIFTNZ screen professionals awarded funding for their projects by the New Zealand Film Commission.

Feature Film Development Funding, March 2026 – May 2026 

•       Eira, Alyx Duncan
•       Sweet Lips, Catherine Fitzgerald, Maea Tamasese, Tusi Tamasese 
•       Taniwha, Kingi Rummler, Lani Feltham, Emma Mortimer
•       When the Law Falls, Julia Parnell, Lizzie Gillett, Sarah…

New series Under the Influence is rolling out across the NZ Herald online, exploring the algorithms and technology shaping young New Zealander's lives. 

Across six episodes, the creators travelled up and down the motu, gathering the lived experience of Gen Z and speaking with those at the forefront of these issues.  While the series shines…

How good is this! There is now a Spotify Playlist of songs from acclaimed kiwi documentary Tenor: My Name Is Pati.

The film's director Rebecca Tansley is of course a loyal Wiftie as are Aeroplane Music Services who were music supervisors on the film - and they have also collated this playlist!

Click and save…

First Market is a targeted professional development initiative designed to support New Zealand film producers leading finance on a dramatic feature film or documentary for the first time, to attend the international financing market at 37º South during the Melbourne International Film Festival (6-9 August 2026).

First Market provides travel funding and pairs each participant…

Disabled artists in Taiwan are redefining what dance can be - and John Ross and Paula Whetu Jones, two New Zealand filmmakers, are making the film that tells that story.

The Eternal City documentary follows Resident Island Dance Theatre through the making of a groundbreaking international performance premiering in November 2026. 

To complete the film,…

A Boosted Campaign for 'Things We Miss In The Moonlight' goes public on July 8th.

Co-produced by Wiftie Tayla Randall, the film is a sci-fi, comedy, 3D animated short film that reimagines Aotearoa in a post-apocalyptic community run by household service robots after the disappearance of humans. 

NYWIFT is stoked to announce their next virtual NYWIFT Masterclass: FINDING THE SOUL OF THE STORY – Creating Feature Documentaries & Premium Docu-Series run by Yvonne Russo, an Indigenous documentary producer.

The course takes place over three mornings and all sessions will be recorded and shared with registrants.

There are 3 sessions to the workshop,…

Screenwriter, filmmaker & Wiftie Keren Green is launching a new screenwriting course online, and you can grab Early Access right now - which is 80% off - plus a further discount for New Zealanders using this code: KIWI

The course is online, it’s lifetime access and will walk students through the entire feature film writing…

April Phillips is a filmmaker who doesn’t do things by halves. In fact, she does things in twos.

The WIFTNZ member is a writer, director and producer with eight award-winning, internationally screened short films to her name, and in 2025 she completed two feature films. Getting just one feature onto the big screen is an…

WIFTNZ member Kim Webby has a new film screening at DocEdge this month called Unlikely Kin.

The film will screen on Matariki holiday as part of Doc Edge Festival, July 10 at 2pm at Auckland's Capital Cinema, then a screening in Wellington on July 20 and in Christchurch on August 2nd. 

Tickets available HERE.

Whales,…

Congrats to our members Lynda Chanwai-Earle and Jo Luping, their film I Duok Om I Bohuntung, The Owl and The Rainbow just won the Animated Short Award at the Toronto imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts festival!

Here's a quote from Jury Member Stephan Sloane, Head of Animation at Blue Ant Media:

“The jury awards this…

WIFT NZ Member Kerry Warkia co-produced a documentary called Sukundimi Walks Before Me, which has won the Sustainable Future Award at the Sydney Film Festival. The AUD $40,000 that comes with the award is billed as the world’s largest environmental film prize.

New Zealand documentary Ranginui: Call of the Ice will premiere at Doc Edge on 10^th July. The film will theh screen on TVNZ followed by Whakaata Māori.

If anyone is starting out in film and wants a break, Voices with Impact is a great opportunity to create a five minute film on a global stage with fabulous mentors and a US $10k grant, plus a trip to the global premiere. 

This year's line up includes the first project from New Zealand -…

An amazing opportunity for Wift NZ screen professionals, and from one of the best women in the business: Dayna Pomare.

Dayna is offering WIFT members across Aotearoa individual stunt and action consultations for productions in development, completely free of charge, until the end of the year.

As a Stunt Coordinator, she is regularly brought in…

Another accolade for young WIFT NZ filmmaker Sophie Hampson (Ngāti Huri/Raukawa), her film Washed Up was selected for imagineNATIVE this year.

Sophie wrote and directed the film, co-producing alongside Acacia Wong, another recently graduated member of WIFT.

WASHED UP: A widow’s message in a bottle washes up into the hands of an unexpected reader.

Head…

A top-notch win for Wiftie Stella Reid at the recent Aotearoa Music Awards.

NZ On Air Te Taumata o te Ataata | Best Music Video Content Award was won by Stella for ‘Scared Old Men’ by the band Dick Move. The band also delivered a high energy live performance of the song on awards night.

We LOVE to see all-female senior teams at the helm of big local shows!

The new big comedy series Celebrity Escape has just launched on Three & ThreeNow and features a raft of talented women in the production hotseats including Wifties Vicki Keogh and Amy Lapwood.

SENIOR TEAM

Series Producer Pip Rubira

Line Producer  Lauren…

Prime Minister, the documentary about former New Zealand Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern has won the prize for best documentary at the 2026 News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

The production also took home the award for outstanding politics and government documentary.

The film's Executive Producer, Cass Avery is longtime WIFT NZ member and told StopPress:

Huge congratulations are in order for two exceptional screen industry women recognised in the King's Birthday Honours.

Associate Professor in Screen Production at Auckland University and WIFT NZ member Shuchi Kothari has been appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to the screen industry.

Kothari co-wrote and co-produced the…

We're thrilled to invite you to an intimate WIFT Wellington evening in conversation with one of New Zealand's most iconic screen artists, Academy Award-winning costume designer Ngila Dickson.

Ngila's career spans decades and continents, with credits including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Last Samurai, and more recently, Predator: Badlands.

Her work is a…

We have two brand new local shows featuring WIFT NZ creatives landing for New Zealand audiences this month! 

"Please Don’t Break Anything"

Friends gather to honour Riley's memory on their birthday, reflecting on a long-standing bond. Tensions rise as unresolved questions surrounding the circumstances of Riley's death surface, challenging the group to confront their shared past…

Actors Studio Elena Stejko: Term Three classes are open for booking, and this term is all about YOUR CLOSE -UP.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Term 3 runs for 7 weeks starting on the week commencing 8th June. Classes run on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays (one class per week according to your level)

MONDAY: 6.30pm-9.30pm – beginners

TUESDAY:…

A new film from Wiftie Cathy Garcia-Sampana called Tayo Sa Wakas has launched it's first trailer.

Cathy is a NZ-based Filipino film and television director best known for directing romantic comedy and family drama films produced and distributed by Star Cinema.  Her films have been the highest-grossing Filipino film of the year on nine occasions,…

The Women Calling the Shots showcase of short films made by women filmmakers will take place at the 34th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival (October 2-12, 2026).

A partnership between the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) and New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), Women Calling the Shots is in its 23rd year. The…

A stellar selection of WIFT NZ creatives will be appearing at this year's Big Screen Symposium in July.

Directors Ursula Grace Williams and Vea Mafile’o will front a session called Truth Diggers.

Two of Aotearoa’s leading filmmakers, their documentary work spans Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds, For My Father’s Kingdom and…

Kiwi writer, director and WIFT NZ member Linda Niccol has been honoured at Cinema Royale: Paris Edition with her new feature script "The Tear Collector"

Her script was a winner in the "Royal Screenplay" Feature Screenplay category.

In announcing the winners, Founder & Art Director of Cinema Royale: Paris Edition, Julien Moreau was clearly delighted…

Award-winning WIFT NZ filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly's new film Crocodile will be showing at the upcoming Sydney Film Festival.

Crocodile exploded onto the world stage with its World Premiere In Competition at the Berlinale International Film Festival with all four screenings selling out in just 15 minutes.

The premiere sparked standing ovations, packed press days, and…

If you’re stopping work to have a baby, we will waive your membership fee for a period of up to 12 months while you're unavailable for work. This will operate by trust – let us know how long you are intending to be off and we will be in touch when you are due to…

Two of our very best Wifties are being celebrated on RNZ right now.

Sophie Lloyd was recently awarded the WIFT NZ Queenstown Camera Company Craft Award and is a highly skilled gaffer who has worked on TV series Crackhead and After The Party and films like Avatar: The Way of Water and Cousins. 

In Went…

An exciting array of WIFT filmmakers have films accepted into the upcoming Sydney Film Festival.

Congrats to all!

Short Film: Kurī

Members: Ana Chaya Scotney, Julie Zhu

Feature Film: Lomu

Members: Vea Mafile’o, Victoria Dabbs, Emma Slade, Leela Menon

Feature Film: Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant

Members: Alix Whittaker, Morgan Leigh Stewart, Ilai Amar, Bayley Broome-Peak,…

Huge congrats are in order for WIFT NZ Member Leanne Pooley! Her brilliant doco series Choir Games has won x2 awards are SeriesFest in Denver, USA - the festival often referred to as "the Sundance of TV".

Choir Games took out Best Unscripted Series and the Unscripted Audience Award.

Click HERE for all the details…

Be part of a truly special night as FISC presents the NZ premiere screening of Girls Will Be Girls, celebrating the official launch of The Indian Film Festival of New Zealand (TIFFNZ). This one-night-only event comes with an unmissable highlight — live appearances and an intimate Q&A with special guests Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal!

A collection of NZ Films and filmmakers, among them WIFT NZ members, have been selected for this year's ImagineNATIVE Film Festival.

The 26th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is taking place June 2-7, 2026 (Toronto) and June 8-14, 2026 (online).

Congrats to all our members below!

• Mārama (Feature)

MEMBERS: Sharlene George, RickyLee Waipuka-Russell,…

Spada is proud to announce WIFT NZ member Jennifer Onyeiwu as the recipient of the 2026 Vincent Burke Scholarship. 

This year’s Vincent Burke Scholarship drew an exceptionally strong pool of applicants, with fifteen emerging producers in contention.

However, Jennifer distinguished herself through the strength of her producing vision and her clear commitment to building processes…

Get ready for Aotearoa’s wildest weekend of filmmaking — Vista Foundation 48Hours is back for 2026 and Early Bird Registration is open from June 1st!

Competition Basics
Teams from across the Aotearoa, from Kaitaia to Bluff, will have 48 hours to write, shoot, and cut a short film
in just one hectic and thrilling weekend: July 31st…

Preparations are underway for the upcoming season of Practical Producing, and they would love to once again share one complimentary season pass for a WIFTNZ member!

This pass will give full access to Season 5, which includes each of the expert-led sessions and a collaborative learning environment designed for working and emerging producers.

HERE is…

WIFT NZ Member Ashleigh Roworth is crowdfunding for her new short film.

16 artists. 16 mentors. All culminating in one transformative year.

The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi has announce their 2026 Springboard Recipients, all exceptional early-career artists launching into a year of creating with the support of an experienced artist who has walked the same path. Made possible by generous New Zealanders, each recipient receives a…

Three remarkable women push the boundaries of what we know about Antarctica’s frozen ocean

In one of the harshest places on Earth, three women from different generations chase a hidden and fleeting world beneath the Antarctic sea ice.

In the award-winning documentary, Dr Natalie Robinson leads an expedition to McMurdo Sound, joined by PhD student…

The New Zealand crime thriller Blind Panic has now been released globally and is available to watch on Amazon, Apple TV or Google Play in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the US, and Canada.

The film had its world premiere last December with screenings in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, and is co-produced by Wiftie April…

We have a fabulous giveaway for a new kiwi film from Chelsie Preston Crayford - CATERPILLAR! And this time our giveaway is a treat for those who live outside of Auckland and Wellington.

What a chance to support your awesome local cinema!

The first 5 people who do NOT lived in Auckland or Wellington who…

A PRIVATE LIFE is coming to kiwi cinemas May 21, starring Jodie Foster and Daniel Auteuil and directed by Rebecca Zlotowski. 

The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) is delighted to announce the latest recipient of its International Placement initiative, with filmmaker Dana Leaming selected for a six-month placement at Picking Scabs, where she joined the company in March as a Creative Producer.

A joint venture production company between See-Saw Films and showrunner Samantha Strauss, Sydney-based Picking…

Two fresh local shows are now in front of kiwi audiences and complete with WIFT creatives driving them.

Crack-up comedy New Zealand Spy, produced by award-winning Wiftie Bronwynn Bakker has landed on TVNZ.

New Zealand's newest spies - and the only three who applied - are tasked with protecting our nation from incoming threats, most…

Congratulations to all the WIFT NZ creatives who have secured funding from NZ On Air and we're delighted to list them all below!

NZ On Air Funding Decisions

Scripted

Not Where I Thought I'd Be, 6 × 30’, The Heartbeaters Ltd for THREE, up to $3,104,185

Blue Murder Motel 2, 8 × 44’, Great Southern…

Huge congrats to all the WIFT NZ members who received funding for their projects in the latest Te Māngai Pāho round.

Please note: All decisions including funding and deliverables are subject to final contracts between Te Māngai Pāho and the applicant. 

2025/26 General Audience Round 2

21 applications were submitted to the recent General Projects…

The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) has been shortlisted in the Global Production Awards 2026 in two categories: Film Commission of the Year and Sustainability Initiative.

NZFC is nominated alongside California (US), Manitoba (Canada), New Mexico (US), and Screen Queensland (Australia) in the Film Commission of the Year category, and NBCUniversal’s Wicked: For Good Green…

The Boosted campaign is now live for BY HAND is a contemplative short documentary by Jane Ross.

The film follows Greg and Ali Lang, the last wheelwright and coach painter in Aotearoa New Zealand, working from the rural village of Gladstone. Over the course of a year, the film observes their craft, collaboration, and enduring…

WIFT NZ member Phillida Perry, Daughter Films, presents two short films GOOD KUNST & BREAKING THE MOULD as part of the Aotearoa Art Fair VIP Programme on Saturday 2nd May at 12pm at Capitol Cinema, 610 Dominion Road, Balmoral, Auckland.

Date: Saturday 2nd May 2026

Time: 12pm - 1.20pm

GOOD KUNST (12 mins)

When a…

For this year's edition of the fabulous Italian Film Festival, the curators Renee Mark and Paolo Rotondo found a clear inspiration for New Zealand, and in fact the world, from the Italian film industry.

As they both prepared their curation, it was clear that the place of Italian women in film and television has truly…

Filmed in Aotearoa, Mr Hugo’s Little Library features a glittering cast of characters brought to life by talented performers from New Zealand and Canada’s drag communities, alongside original music performed by renowned singers including Tami Neilson, Ladyhawke and Richard O’Brien.

With Mr Hugo's bookwork bestie, Dewey, each episode invites young viewers inside the magical books…

The creators and stars of the award-winning new Kiwi comedy-horror film The Weed Eaters will be blazing across twelve regions in Aotearoa this April on an unmissable 21-stop tour ahead of the movie’s hotly anticipated April 30 theatrical release. 

From Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to Murihiku Southland, Callum Devlin (director/producer), Finnius Teppett (scriptwriter/producer), and actor-producers Alice…

Join the fab folk at Professional Lighting Services for a conversation with Tony (Spotty) Keddy from Grip HQ and Stacey Hoggard  - Gaffer/Continental Generators; to showcase the Luminys SoftSun® and Lightning Strikes.

Both are advocates for the SoftSun, and you'll get to see the 100kw unit up close and personal - the largest light in…

Greenstone TV is offering a sublease opportunity for production-ready office and studio space based in Avondale, Auckland within a gated, secure business park with easy motorway access. The space is available from late April - end of June with an option to extend. 

The space includes:

• 245sqm ground-floor office space with 5 partitioned offices
• 550sqm…

Short filmmaker and Wiftie Lee Li has completed her film Sahar and has begun her festival run, including submissions to NZIFF and Show Me Shorts.

Lee Li is the producer alongside writer/director/producer Yera Kheiri, and their story is that of a young Afghan woman who is promised a new life in New Zealand through an…