Event 16

Perfect Creature

The vampire myth is given a stylish 1960s treatment, where a human cop partners with a vampire cop to stop a vamp bent on creating a war between the two "separate but equal" races.

Bad Taste

A team from the intergalactic fast food chain Crumb's Crunchy Delights descends on Earth, planning to make human flesh the newest taste sensation. After they wipe out the New Zealand town Kaihoro, the country’s Astro-Investigation and Defense Service (AIaDS) is called in to deal with the problem. Things are complicated due to Giles, an aid worker who comes to Kaihoro the same day to collect change from the residents. He is captured by the aliens, and AIaDS stages a rescue mission that quickly becomes an all-out assault on the aliens’ headquarters.

Strange Behavior

When the teenagers in a small Illinois town start getting murdered, the police chief makes a connection to the mysterious scientific experiments being done at the local university and must stop them before his own son is dragged into the deadly scheme.

Warlords of the 21st Century

It's the 21st century, the Oil Wars have made a mess of the planet and the land outside major cities is lawless. After Hunter comes to the aid of Corlie, who has run away from the villainous Straker, he takes her to the peaceful community of Clearwater. Unfortunately for the citizens of Clearwater, Straker fully intends to get Corlie back.

The Cure

When a young female scientist discovers that the pharmaceutical company she works for had developed a cure for cancer years earlier, she attempts to release it to the world. Knowing that they make more money from chemotherapy drugs than the cure, the company does everything it can to stop her.

Death Warmed Up

A kid is hypnotized by a scientist to kill his parents and ends in a mental institution. As a grown up he returns to seek revenge over the scientist.

Eternity

In the near future, police detective Richard Manning is investigating the most difficult case of his career – the seemingly impossible locked room murder of a wealthy property investor. The more Richard investigates, the more complex the case seems to become. He soon realizes his own future and survival depend on him solving everything – and quickly.

Apple Pie

Shot on 16mm celluloid across parts of New Zealand and Samoa, interdisciplinary artist Sam Hamilton’s ten-part experimental magnum opus makes thought-provoking connections between life on Earth and the cosmos, and, ultimately, art and science. Structured around the ten most significant celestial bodies of the Milky Way, Apple Pie’s inquiry begins with the furthest point in our solar system, Pluto, as a lens back towards our home planet and the ‘mechanisms by which certain aspects of scientific knowledge are digested, appropriated and subsequently manifest within the general human complex’. Christopher Francis Schiel’s dry, functional narration brings a network of ideas about our existence into focus, while Hamilton’s visual tableaux, as an extension of his multifaceted practice, veer imaginatively between psychedelic imagery and performance art.

We Are Still Here

In a sweeping tale that spans 1000 years and multiple generations – from the distant past to the 19th century, the present day and a strange, dystopian future – this landmark collection traces the collective histories of Indigenous peoples across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Diverse in perspective, content and form, traversing the terrain of grief, love and dispossession, they each bear witness to these cultures’ ongoing struggles against patriarchy, colonialism and racism.

White Room

A man wakes up in an endless white void, unable to remember how he got there, he soon encounters an A.I. who takes the man through old memories of himself until he realizes his tragic purpose in the white room.

The Nightwatchman

A nightwatchman who works at a pesticide plant manipulates chemicals (of which he treats a strange garden of marrow-like vines in his apartment) , causing evolution to accelerate, in this short illustrating the harmful effects of human interference with nature.

Whale Rider

A contemporary story of love, rejection, and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.

In My Father's Den

War journalist Paul Prior returns to his New Zealand hometown after his father’s death, rekindling strained relationships with his brother and memories of a troubled past. He befriends Celia, a curious and aspiring writer, who shares a fascination with his world. When Celia mysteriously disappears, Paul becomes the prime suspect, forcing him to confront buried secrets and uncover the dark truths of his family and community.

River Deep, Mountain High: James Nesbitt in New Zealand

James Nesbitt moved to New Zealand in 2011 when he landed the role of Bofur in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, but he says the country remains largely unknown to him. Travelling more than 1,000 miles from the tip of the North Island down to the South, the actor finds out more about the place he has called home, visiting areas of natural beauty and learning about the nation's history and traditions. Along the way, he meets former All Blacks player the late great Jonah Lomu, takes a trip around film star Sam Neill's vineyards in Queenstown, catches up with Peter Jackson and goes Base-jumping from the tallest building in Auckland.

Operation 8

Operation 8 examines the so-called 'anti-terror' raids that took place around New Zealand on October 15, 2007 - asking how and why they took place and at what cost to those targeted.

In the Theatre of the Gogs

A contemplation of art and adventure in the southern wilds of New Zealand by both a landscape photographer and an adventure filmmaker. This film is the unexpected result of their two unique perspectives.

Every Moment

When a hotel housemaid is dumped by her boyfriend, a guileless bellboy leaps into the breach, helping her see past present heartbreak. Yes, life is full of ups and downs but every moment counts.

Quest for the Ring

Bonjour Timothy

Timothy and his family is expecting a French-Canadian male exchange student, that turns out to be an attractive girl, to which Timothy proceeds to make a fool of himself, trying to impress. When Michelle becomes ill from drinking spiked punch at a party, Timothy notices a tattoo while helping her to bed. He foolishly tells a friend about the tattoo, who proceeds to tell the whole school, which does not go down well with Michelle.

Kāinga

Eight Pan-Asian female filmmakers’ powerful anthology film illuminates the immigrant experience in Aotearoa New Zealand through the lives of eight Asian women connected by the house they call home.