DEGANZ Watch List: Editors Spotlight

,

This week’s DEGANZ Watch List celebrates the incredible work of our editor members, spotlighting a diverse line-up of projects spanning feature film, comedy, and emerging web series pilots.

Leading the list is Caterpillar, the highly anticipated directorial debut from Chelsie Preston-Crayford. Edited by DEGANZ member Jonno Woodford-Robinson (ANZSE), the local drama was released just ahead of Mother’s Day and has already generated a variety of positive reviews.

Also featured is the new comedy series New Zealand Spy from Paul Williams, with fellow member Nadia Darby serving as assistant editor on the production.

Rounding out the Watch List are three pilot episodes developed through PASC’s Episode One Redux (Ep1 Redux) programme. This is the second iteration of the Episode One Web Series Development and Pilot Production initiative originally launched in 2022. Designed to strengthen the presence of Pan-Asian creatives both on screen and behind the camera in Aotearoa, the programme aims to foster exciting new voices in local storytelling. The featured pilots showcase the work of editor DEGANZ members Jack Woon, Adam-Luka Turjak, and Sam Small.

Find out more about each of these projects below:

Caterpillar

Feature Film

Editor: Jonno Woodford-Robinson

Set in a run-down Wellington villa in 2003, Caterpillar follows three women living separate lives under one leaky roof. Sixteen-year-old Cassie is all bravado and vulnerability, drifting into risky territory as she searches for belonging. Her mother, Maxine, is a formidable single parent and filmmaker on the brink of a long-awaited breakthrough. Holding everything together is Huia, Cassie’s grandmother, whose life has been defined by quiet service to family and a private obsession with raising monarch caterpillars, dreaming of one day witnessing the legendary butterfly migration in Mexico.

Now in cinemas across Aotearoa! Find a screening near you here.

 

New Zealand Spy

Drama Series

Assistant Editor: Nadia Darby

New Zealand’s newest spies – and the only three who applied – are tasked with protecting our nation from incoming threats, most notably those noisy neighbours in Australia. Starring Rose Matafeo, Paul Williams, Bret McKenzie and Joe Thomas.

Available to watch on TVNZ+.

 

Duel Weddings

PASC Ep1 Redux | Drama Series Pilot Episode

Editor: Jack Woon

When polar-opposite sisters are forced into a double wedding, sparring over their Chinese mother’s approval derails all plans – particularly as one is marrying a white man and the other, a woman!

Available to watch on RNZ.

Jani Bros

PASC Ep1 Redux | Drama Series Pilot Episode

Editor: Adam-Luka Turjak

Two codependent brothers are forced to support their family’s struggling crop-growing business, but their burning desire to forge their own paths throws their brotherhood into turmoil.

Available to watch on RNZ.

Strange Brew

PASC Ep1 Redux | Drama Series Pilot Episode

Editor: Sam Small

Surpassed by a perfect Machine, an aspiring Barista Champion enters a virtual realm to seek the knowledge of her Hero.

Available to watch on RNZ.

 

/by

Macleod Takes the Next Leap with Springboard Award

Congratulations to Isla Macleod (DEGANZ) for being one of 16 recipients of the 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard Awards!

Springboard aims to kickstart sustainable arts careers for artists at a formative stage of their practice in Aotearoa. During the programme, each participant receives a $15k grant and a year-long mentorship from the Arts Foundation artist alumni.

Isla has been paired with fellow DEGANZ member, 2025 Laureate, and acclaimed director Roseanne Liang.

The Springboard Selection Panel commented,

Isla has been turning heads as an emerging theatre director.  With a background in film and television, Isla has quickly developed a strong and self-determined voice.  Dedicated and insightful, approaching her craft with both an intellectual and somatic approach – Isla has the potential to have a significant and impacting career as a New Zealand director.

Isla is a writer and director working across screen and theatre. She began her career in 2018 as a co-creator of Oddly Even, a series for TVNZ OnDemand. From there, she was selected for the inaugural Tāhuna Screenwriting Residency and has since written and directed multiple short films that have screened internationally, as well as two sell-out theatre productions under her company, Hekerua Bay Productions. In 2023, Isla was a participant in DEGANZ’s Emerging Women Filmmakers Incubator. Most recently, she directed second unit on season two of Secret at Red Rocks, and is currently developing her next short film through Jane Campion’s A Wave in the Ocean programme.

We wish Isla and Roseanne well in their Springboard journey!

 

/by

First Look at Doc Edge 2026

Doc Edge kicks off its 21st iteration by announcing the first 16 films selected for this year’s festival, including work by DEGANZ members Kim Webby, Mike Jonathan, and Jonno Woodford-Robinson. The selection so far spans deeply personal stories to urgent global issues, drawing on voices from Aotearoa and around the world, with multiple films celebrating their world premieres at Doc Edge.

This year, the Oscar-qualifying festival is running 24 June – 12 July in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and 15 – 26 July in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. The industry events and awards will take place in Tāmaki from 29 June – 1 July, bringing together filmmakers, distributors, and industry guests from across the motu and the globe.

Read more about Kim, Mike, and Jonno’s mahi below.

Unlikely Kin

World Premiere

Directors: Kim Webby & Mike Jonathan

A father and son fight to uphold Māori guardianship — harvesting stranded whales and protecting endangered fauna. They reveal how ancestral knowledge may be the essential key to healing the land and saving New Zealand’s forests.

There’s a Hole in my Bucket

World Premiere

Editors: Jonno Woodford-Robinson & Richard Lord

When Royd Tolkien, great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, loses his brother Mike to Motor Neurone Disease, Mike leaves behind one final act of love and mischief: a bucket list of 50 challenges designed to drag his reluctant, comfort-zone-hugging brother back into the land of the living. Raucous, tender, and deeply human.

 

Congratulations on the early selections! We look forward to seeing the full programme release later in May.

 

/by

DEGANZ Members Bring Aotearoa Stories to SFF 2026

The Sydney Film Festival (SFF) has officially unveiled its 2026 programme, featuring five films from Aotearoa. Among them is the short film Kurī, edited by Sam Small (DEGANZ). Also selected is the documentary feature Lomu, co-directed by DEGANZ member Vea Mafile’o. Continuing its successful release and joining the lineup is Tenor: My Name is Pati, directed by Rebecca Tansley (DEGANZ) and edited by fellow member Thomas Gleeson.

Since its inception in 1954, SFF has grown in size and reputation to become a leading international film festival in Australia. It celebrates the best of world cinema, screening features, documentaries, short films, retrospectives and a series of industry and public talks.

This year, SFF will present 248 films from 81 countries, including 19 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres and 140 Australian Premieres, with screenings at the State Theatre, Sydney Opera House and cinemas across the city.

Festival Director Nashen Moodley comments on this year’s line-up:

Art and cinema help us make sense of the world, take us into the lives of people far away from us, and remind us to remain vigilant about our own rights and freedoms. And we can’t forget, they’re also an enormous source of joy.

Read more about the projects from DEGANZ members below.

Kurī

Short Film – First Nations Award

Editor: Sam Small

After her father’s death, a young woman returns to Te Urewera, confronting grief and memory in a poetic, gothic meditation on home and belonging.

 

Lomu

Feature Documentary – International Documentaries Strand

Directors: Vea Mafile’o and Gavin FitzGerald

This exhilarating documentary charts the rise of rugby legend Jonah Lomu, a once-in-a-lifetime talent and sporting icon who would go on to change the landscape of rugby forever.
Rugby legend Jonah Lomu was a phenom from the start, sprinting 100 metres in under 11 seconds and becoming the youngest ever All Black at just 19 years old. His explosive impact at the 1995 Rugby World Cup transformed him into the sport’s first global superstar. That same year, he was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a life-threatening kidney condition that would shape the rest of his life and career. Yet his courage never faded, and he continued to play at an elite level for years to come. Directors Gavin FitzGerald and Vea Mafile’o pay a pitch-perfect tribute to a true Kiwi-Tongan warrior through spectacular game footage, newly revealed family archives, and intimate reflections from those closest to him.

 

Tenor: My Name is Pati

Feature Documentary – Sounds on Screen Strand

Director: Rebecca Tansley

Editor: Thomas Gleeson

A stirring portrait of acclaimed Samoan-born New Zealand tenor Pene Pati and his brother Amitai, the voices behind the beloved Aotearoa popera phenomenon SOL3 MIO.

Hailed as the new Pavarotti, New Zealand’s Pene Pati is one of opera’s brightest young voices, astonishing audiences worldwide with his unique timbre. Alongside his brother Amitai, they have become unlikely stars of the European operatic stage. In this candid documentary, award-winning director Rebecca Tansley (The Heart Dances, SFF 2019) follows Pene and Amitai as they reflect on their journey from childhood church performances in South Auckland to international acclaim in Paris, London and beyond. Studded with breathtaking performances, the film explores the deep bonds of family and culture that shaped them and their ongoing reconciliation of where those roots sit within the world of opera.

 

/by

DEGANZ Watch List: Stream at Home AND Head to the Cinemas

It’s the best of both worlds in this week’s DEGANZ watchlist, with feature films from DEGANZ members available to watch both online at home and at the cinema.

DEGANZ member Vanessa Wells‘ environmental documentary, Mighty Indeed, is now available to watch on RNZ following its successful festival run. Notably, it took home Best New Zealand Feature and Best New Zealand Director at the 2025 Doc Edge Film Festival.

Now in cinemas nationwide is The Weed Eaters, directed by Callum Devlin (DEGANZ). This kooky horror flick first captivated audiences during Whānau Marama NZIFF in 2025, before the creative team took it on tour across the motu with a series of special Q&A screenings. If you haven’t caught it yet, now’s your chance.

Mighty Indeed

Feature Documentary

Director & Producer: Vanessa Wells

Three women, spanning four decades, push the boundaries of science on Antarctica’s frozen ocean while grappling with profound questions about the future: for themselves and the planet.

 

The Weed Eaters

Feature Drama

Director & Editor: Callum Devlin

Four holidaying friends come across a strain of weed that gives them the most extreme case of the munchies ever recorded in this cannibalistic New Zealand horror.

 

/by