Homegrown: Programme 1
Year: 2008
Country: New Zealand
Running time: 76 mins
M low level violence, offensive language, sex scenes, content may disturb
This year‘s selection is drawn from a particularly inspiring year of local short filmmaking. From the screenplay to the final edit, these are films of intelligence and beauty; they are daring and difficult, witty and poignant. They are films about love, loneliness, friendship and survival which move comfortably at their own pace, telling their story with confidence and clarity and offering a contemporary view of New Zealand and our place in the world.
Patu Ihu
NZ 2008. Director: Summer Agnew Screenplay: Summer Agnew, Warren Beazley Producer: Angela Littlejohn. Maxim Films. 14 mins
Summer Agnew was the 2007 SPADA Young New Zealand filmmaker of the year. Agnew co-directed the documentary film Minginui [AIFF05]. Patu Ihu is a beautifully shot, emotionally loaded story that explores the childhood memory of a lesson learnt from a game of cards.
Coffee & Allah
NZ 2007. Director: Sima Urale Screenplay: Shuchi Kothari Producers: Sarina Pearson, Shuchi Kothari. Nomadz Unlimited Festivals: Venice 2007; San Francisco, Seattle 2008. 14 mins
Sima Urale is an award-winning writer and director whose feature Apron Strings premieres at this year‘s Festival. Coffee & Allah is a visually stunning meditation on cultural alienation and human connection. An Ethiopian Muslim woman journeys to a strange new land, where an appetite for coffee, Islam and a good game of badminton lead to unexpected friendships.
Take 3
NZ 2008. Director/Screenplay: Roseanne Liang Producer: Owen Hughes. Frame Up Films Festivals: Berlin 2008. 12 mins
Roseanne Liang‘s documentary Banana in a Nutshell was a hit at the 2005 Festivals. In Take 3 three young actresses must negotiate the minefield of the audition room and the tricky and often humiliating balance between professional and personal integrity. They finally turn the tables in one hilarious and gratifying act of solidarity.
Cargo
NZ/Czech Republic 2007. Director/Screenplay: Leo Woodhead Producers: Vanessa Alexander, Leo Woodhead. Collective Vision Festivals: Venice, London 2007. 12 mins
A graduate of the Master of Creative and Performing Arts programme at Auckland University, Leo Woodhead directed Cargo during a student exchange in Prague. Cargo is the harrowing tale of child trafficking across the Czech border, a child‘s account of the impossible choice between survival and the loss of empathy and, ultimately, humanity.
The Road Out of Town
NZ 2007. Directors/Screenplay: Adam Luxton, Jeremy Dumble. Producers: Richard Collins. The Cartel. 12 mins
Adam Luxton and Jeremy Dumble wrote and co-directed the short film Down the Coast, which won TV2‘s 2000 Award for Young Filmmakers. Based on a story by Tim Corballis, The Road Out of Town is a lush and melancholic mystery that follows a young man on his journey to self-revelation following the disappearance of his young lover on the West Coast.
This Is Her
NZ 2008. Director: Katie Wolfe Screenplay: Kate McDermott Producers: Felicity Letcher, Rachel Lorimer. Passenger Films. 12 mins
This Is Her is the debut film from Katie Wolfe, theatre and television director and one of New Zealand‘s most accomplished actors, and Kate McDermott, whose writing credits include Outrageous Fortune. This Is Her is a deliciously black contemporary fable of suburban bliss gone awry.
