DEGANZ Members Among First Picks for NZ Web Fest

Short films Pākehā, written and directed by Mana Hira Davis, and The Whole Thing, directed by fellow member Calvin Sang, are among the first projects selected for this year’s NZ Web Fest. DEGANZ member Sofia Misa’s T for Taupou has also secured a spot in the festival’s student film section.

Since its inception in 2015, the virtual festival has curated and celebrated online short films, web series, and podcasts from around the world. This year’s event will run from 13–23 November.

Read more about the selected projects below:

Fiction Shorts

Pākehā

Writer/Director: Mana Hira Davis

In 1980s, New Zealand, a young Pakeha mother’s determination to learn Te Reo Māori exposes her struggles, resilience, and courage, in an inspiring true story of cultural reconciliation.

This selection follows the film’s recent success at the 2026 International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival (FIFO), winning Best Fiction Short Film.

The Whole Thing

Director: Calvin Sang

Two strangers meet at a crematorium while picking up their loved ones’ remains. They decide to spend the day together, killing time and watching the world go by.

Fiction Shorts (Student)

T for Taupou

Writer, Director, and Editor: Sofia Misa

A fast-paced, chaotic story that takes place in real-time, all in a backstage room as a Poly Club of tertiary students prepares to take the stage for a competition.

 

Last updated on 9 April 2026

/by

DEGANZ Watch List: Heroes and Heroines

From powerful true stories to deeply personal journeys of grief and resilience, this DEGANZ Watch List highlights heroes’ stories.

Editor Francis Glenday (DEGANZ) is behind the upcoming wartime docu-drama Sgt. Haane, which recently dropped its second trailer.

Meanwhile, the smash hit Tinā, edited by fellow member Luke Haigh, is available to stream on Three Now. If you somehow missed it in cinemas last year, now is your chance to see the film that broke local box office records.

Sgt. Haane

Feature Docu-Drama Trailer

Film Editor: Francis Glenday

The second trailer for this gripping WWII docu-drama comes one month before its nationwide premiere.

Haane Manahi of the 28th Māori Battalion is told that taking the enemy desert fortress of Takrouna, Tunisia, will be a cakewalk. It is not. When the chain of command collapses under enemy fire, Haane leads a small band of B Company soldiers – all cousins, all related – up the precipitous cliff face that his commanders had deemed too formidable for thousands of men to take. What follows changes the course of WWII in North Africa. Three generals and a field marshal sign a Victoria Cross recommendation. One anonymous British official strikes it out. Haane’s legacy lives on through his descendants to this day.

 

Tinā

Drama Feature

Editor: Luke Haigh

A grieving mother becomes a substitute teacher at an elite school after her daughter dies in the Christchurch quakes, where she finds neglected students and steps in to guide and inspire them.

Last updated on 9 April 2026

/by

Cheer Up

View from the Top banner

The world is awash with bad news at the moment, whether it’s the war in the Middle East, the planned shutterings announced by Heinz Watties and McCain in Hawkes Bay, or the lack of domestic and international production in Aotearoa this year.

It’s with a great deal of pleasure, therefore, that I got to watch director and DEGANZ board member Rebecca Tansley’s extremely feel-good documentary film Tenor: My Name Is Pati.

Having hit No. 1, it now sits at No. 2 at the NZ box office with $399,926 after just its second week in theatres.

I was fortunate to have seen the film a couple of months ago, together with a majority Pacific Island community in attendance. Then two weeks ago, we held a joint screening of the film together with WIFT at the Bridgeway in Birkenhead, with a mixture of Bridgeway, WIFT/DEGANZ attendees and others.

At both screenings, there was laughter, shouts of joy and even the occasional tear as the audience followed the hero’s journey of Pati from singing in a South Auckland resthome as a kid to the role as an adult of the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

Film has a wonderful ability to transport the soul, and Rebecca’s film did it with ease. An engaging protagonist (together with his brother Amitai and other family members). A journey filled with trials and tribulations. Wonderfully crafted. And an outcome that was rapturous in its climax, which for me was when Pati knew he had clinched the recording performance of Nessun Dorma under demanding task master, conductor Emmanuel Villaume. At the Bridgeway, the audience burst into spontaneous applause at this pivotal moment.

We should all applaud the addition of this film to New Zealand’s cinematic heritage.

DEGANZ is recognising all New Zealand filmmakers’ collective efforts this month, along with many other guilds and associations, by supporting a promotion created by Piki Films celebrating New Zealand cinema. The promotion will be part of their 10-year anniversary celebration re-release of another Kiwi film that warmed NZ hearts while highlighting child neglect—Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

In the trying times that we are in as a screen sector in New Zealand, it’s never been more important to support our local screen talent, their work, and the contributions they and their films and programmes make to New Zealand identity, culture and society.

In the feedback we have just given to the government on the proposed changes to the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate – International 5% Uplift, we, along with all of the other above-the-line guilds and associations, stressed the need for the 5% Uplift to meaningfully advance our domestic sector and its talent, otherwise we risk becoming a country that only services international production. That’s no laughing matter.

Pati, though, was good for a laugh, some nice warm fuzzies, and a welcome escape from the uncomfortable reality that surrounds many of us.

Although I’m an arthouse fan at heart, I equally appreciate the pleasures that feel-good films like Pati give us.

Get along if you can. You won’t regret it.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

Last updated on 25 March 2026

/by

Mafile’o Named Woman to Watch at 2026 WIFT Awards

DEGANZ member Vea Mafile’o has been named the recipient of the Hinterland Woman to Watch Award at the 2026 WIFT Awards, held on 12 March in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Vea was working overseas at the time of the ceremony, so her son and mother accepted the award on her behalf.

In recognising her achievement, WIFT described Vea as:

[A]n award-winning Tongan filmmaker whose work bridges art, drama, documentary, and social impact. Her dramatic short film Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue was selected from 17,000 submissions for the Sundance Film Festival, while her feature-length documentary For My Father’s Kingdom premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Established in 2004, the WIFT Awards celebrate and support the achievements of women working across film, television, and digital media.

Congratulations to Vea and to all of this year’s finalists and winners.

 

Last updated on 25 March 2026

/by

Exciting Developments for Jonathan & Webby’s ‘Unlikely Kin’

DEGANZ members Mike Jonathan and Kim Webby have had some exciting news for their in-the-works cinematic feature documentary, Unlikely Kin.

The duo recently attended the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) with the project, which was selected for the FACTory Rough Cut Showcase.

They also received NZFC’s Feature Film Finishing Grant to fund the last stages of post-production.

Co-directed by Mike and Kim, the feature doco focuses on themes of environmental and social justice. It is accompanied by their docu-series, Whales, Rats & Kauri, which is also in the final stages of post-production.

We look forward to seeing both Unlikely Kin and Whales, Rats & Kauri when they are out in the world!

 

Last updated on 26 March 2026

/by