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STORIES ABOUT PEOPLE AND PLACES
Nau Mai, Haere Mai ki te Wairarapa Film Festival 2023.
Welcome to the Wairarapa Film Festival 2023.
Kia ora! We are delighted to have you join us for four days of local fi lm, inspiring stories, a special book signing event, fi lm workshops, and fabulous guest speakers.
Wairarapa Film Festival is a celebration of local fi lm and fi lmmakers. We are proud to showcase the remarkable contributions that our people have made and continue to make with cinematic storytelling. At the heart of these films are the stories that celebrate the connection between people and places, tangata and whenua.
Our autumn programme is being presented at Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton District Library, Kuranui
and Wairarapa College, 25 – 28 May 2023.
There will be a mix of in-cinema fi lm screenings, in-school rangatahi filmmaking workshops, and a free whānau-friendly mystery movie screening at our local library.
You can listen to interviews with local fi lmmakers on Film Talks On Air broadcasts and podcasts on Arrow FM 92.7. You can also take part in the Film Talks o ered with every screening at Regent 3 Cinemas. Guest speakers range from emerging to veteran fi lmmakers, and
2023
MAY PROGRAMME 25-28 MAY
WHAKAORIORI
THURSDAY 25 FRIDAY 26 SATURDAY 27 SUNDAY 28
Someday Leaders: Rangatahi Youth Filmmaking Workshops
Someday Leaders: Rangatahi Youth Filmmaking Workshops
Someday Leaders is a free talent development initiative for 14-20 year olds who have clearly demonstrated either a propensity for or an interest in leadership, fi lmmaking or sustainability.
Saturday Matinee and Book Signing Event
Short Film Animation: The Pen (2001 – 2010)
Sunday Matinee Indigenous Cinema
Turangawaewae (2003)
you’ll also get the chance to meet cast and crew from various fi lm productions.
Check out the display board as you enter Masterton District Library from Queen Street. The good people at Wairarapa Archive have curated a series of images that highlight our diverse and talented community of local fi lmmakers. Inside the library you’ll fi nd a display table of books and DVDs that all connect to New Zealand cinema. It’s a great month to get to know more about our local stories. Don’t forget to book with the library
for our whānau-friendly mystery movie. It’s free and there’s bonus popcorn.
We are so lucky to live in a region where local fi lm and filmmakers are valued.
We have world-class filmmakers who hail from or whakapapa to the Wairarapa, such as Jemaine Clement, Barry Barclay, Vincent Ward, and Rāmai Haywood.
We also have world-class filmmakers who come to this region to help tell our stories, including Dame Gaylene Preston and Sir Peter Jackson.
A heartfelt “thank you” to our fi lmmakers, special guests, volunteers, partners, friends, funders, sponsors, and supporters.
You have all made it possible to celebrate our people and our stories from right here in the Wairarapa.
We look forward to seeing you at the Wairarapa Film Festival.
Jane Ross Festival Director
Someday Leaders is a free talent development initiative for 14-20 year olds who have clearly demonstrated either a propensity for or an interest in leadership, fi lmmaking or sustainability.
WHERE: Kuranui College
WHEN: 9am – 3pm
Whānau-Friendly Mystery Movie
WHERE: Wairarapa College
WHEN: 9am – 3pm
Friday (Fright) Night Movies
Short Film: The Reapers (2019)
Feature: Learning Fast (1980)
Special Film Talk with Dame Gaylene Preston
Opportunity to purchase a signed copy of Gaylene’s Take: Her Life in New Zealand
Film (2022) courtesy of Hedley’s Books
WHERE: Regent 3 Cinemas
WHEN: 3:15pm – 5:15pm
Saturday Night Festival Films
Free community screening + popcorn Suitable for 13+ with a PG Rating for 8-13 year olds
Clue: a computeranimated actionadventure fi lm based on Hergé’s comic book series of the same name.
Library audience is limited to 30. Register for your seat through the Masterton District Library website under ‘Bookings & Events’.
WHERE: Masterton District Library
WHEN: 4 – 6pm
I tautokohia e Kahungunu ki Wairarapa te Kaupapa nei
Feature: The Perfect Host: A Southern Gothic Tale | Director’s Cut (2022)
Meet the Filmmaker: Derrick Sims
WHERE: Regent 3 Cinemas
WHEN: 7:15pm – 9:15pm
Short Film: Saviour (2022)
Te Rua (1991)
Feature: Shut Eye (2022)
Special Panel Discussion with Cast, Crew & Production
WHERE: Regent 3 Cinemas
WHEN: 7:15pm – 9:30pm
Special Panel Discussion with the Creatives
WHERE: Regent 3 Cinemas
WHEN: 3:15pm – 5.30pm
TICKETS
Cinema tickets can be booked directly through Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton in person or by phone reservation: 06 377 5479
pm - 7:30 pm
The Reapers (2019)
PG | Comedy | 5 m
While Death walks the earth collecting souls, her granddaughter Winona can’t be bothered carrying on the family business. Featuring the creative talents of local filmmaker Derrick Sims.
FRIDAY 26 MAY
The Pen (2001–2010)
G | Comedy | 5 m
Guy Capper and Jemaine Clement’s comical duo — one loquacious, one laconic — stood out from the flock amidst 100s of entries in the transTasman Nescafé Short Film Awards, sharing first prize in 2001. Featuring the creative talents of local filmmaker Jemaine Clement (Ng˛ti Kahungunu).
SATURDAY 27 MAY
The Perfect Host: A Southern Gothic Tale | Director’s Cut
(2022)
M | Drama, Horror, Thriller | 93 m
While sorting her dead grandmother’s a˙ airs, a young woman boards in an eerie, southern mansion and soon discovers the matriarch may desire more than just her company. Featuring the creative talents of local filmmakers Alaina and Derrick Sims.
FRIDAY 26 MAY
Learning Fast
(1980)
G | Documentary | 60 m
One of acclaimed director Gaylene Preston’s earliest documentaries, Learning Fast chronicles the plight of school leavers from M˛koura College, Masterton, as they try to figure out their next steps. Featuring students of M˛koura College, Masterton 1979 – 1980. The film crew included Dame Gaylene Preston, Alun Bollinger and Lee Tamahori.
SATURDAY 27 MAY
Saviour (2022)
M | Psychological Thriller | 20 m
A troubled missionary, led by a rough P˛keh˛ guide, treks through the forest of 1820s Aotearoa. On a journey to deliver a musket to a distant leader, they are surprised by the appearance of a young M˛ori man who proclaims he’s been sent to guide them. Featuring the creative talents of local actor Kieran Charnock.
SATURDAY 27 MAY
Turangawaewae: A Place To Stand
PG | Drama | 13 m
(2003)
Tiare (a koro, or old man), a Vietnam war veteran, lives homeless, wandering the city, collecting bits and pieces in his plastic bags. His daughter brings her own daughter to visit and tries yet again to persuade him to return to their ancestral home. He does not wish to go there. Featuring the creative talents of local composer and musician Warren Maxwell (Ng˛i T˝hoe, Ng˛ti Kahungunu, Ng˛i Te Rangi).
SUNDAY 28 MAY
Shut Eye
(2022)
M | Psychological Drama | 91 m
To cure their insomnia, a social outcast befriends an ASMR streamer where the lines between friendship and obsession become blurred. Shut Eye was supported by local producer Celia Jaspers and Legal Counsel o˙ ered by Michael Stephens.
SATURDAY 27 MAY
WairarapaFilmFestival
Te Rua (1991)
PG | 107 m | Drama
A hundred years after the theft from New Zealand of three irreplaceable tribal carvings, two Mˆori, Rewi and Peter, decide it’s time for ancient grievances to be put right. Both men are in Berlin where the carvings are stored in a museum. Plans go awry when a group that Peter has assembled breaks into the museum. Written and directed by groundbreaking local filmmaker, Barry Barclay (Ng˛ti Apa). SUNDAY 28 MAY