Must-sees for NZ made movies, television series, short films, and documentaries.  

He Kākano Ahau – From The Spaces In Between

Directed by Kathleen Winter & Produced by Jaimee Poipoi

A courageous takatāpui (Māori LGBTQI) activist is fighting for true diversity in our Gay Pride celebrations.

New Zealand’s Pride celebrations are glitzy and glamorous, but takatāpui activist Kassie (Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga) is challenging the inclusivity of the festival. The historic Wellington Pride celebration forces Kassie to make a decision. Will she take part and speak for those who are both queer and Māori?

This short documentary utilises English and te reo Māori to tell an intensely personal story of a courageous wahine (woman) fighting to be heard.
The te reo Māori content in this short documentary has been made possible with the support of Te Māngai Pāho.

Click here to view.

Tits on a Bull

Steambox Films
Written & Directed by Tim Worrall

Set in a Maori women's rugby team, Tits on a Bull follows Phoenix, the young star player, as she struggles to choose between her longtime friendship with aging coach Rusty or her new relationship with lesbian team-captain, Mel.

Shot on location in Rotorua, New Zealand, Tits on a Bull has won Best Short Film Prizes at the Screen Writers Awards of New Zealand and the Wairoa Maori Film festival and has screened at over thirty film festivals around the globe.

Click here to view.

More Than Four

Inside OUT

More Than Four is a new video and poster resource from InsideOUT, exploring the identities and experiences of and beyond 'LGBT' identities. We spoke to over 30 members of the rainbow community in Aotearoa New Zealand to explore the experiences of people who are asexual, aromantic, intersex, non-binary, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, takatāpui, fa'afafine, akava'ine, queer parents and people who identify as both Māori, Pasifika or Asian and queer. The resource aims to give localised visibility and representation to some of the more marginalised experiences within rainbow communities, simultaneously providing opportunities to see ourselves reflected and to learn about the experiences of others that make up our community.

Click here to view.

Pot Luck

Written & Directed by Ness Simons

Pot Luck started out as an idea in the head of Writer/Director Ness Simons, and grew into a six-part original webseries grounded in the friendship of a group of Wellington lesbians. Telling stories for a community who hardly ever get to see themselves on screen is something Ness is really passionate about, and this naturalistic comedy offers a taste of local life in three great flavours.

Click here to view Season One & Season Two.

Life is Easy

Written & Starring Cole Jenkins and Chye-Ling Huang 

Life Is Easy, comes from the TVNZ New Blood initiative to support new storytellers. This body-swap comedy/drama series explores ideas of race, privilege and sexuality and is aimed at millennials. The lead characters are an Asian female and a gay male, bringing more diversity to our screens.

Writers Cole Jenkins and Chye-Ling Huang say they created the work to talk about race, sexuality and gender in a light hearted way. “In a nutshell, she’s Chinese, straight and female; he’s white, gay and male. Though they always thought they shared everything, their ideas about race, privilege and sexuality are challenged as they find themselves living each other’s lives with no way to escape.”

Click here to view.

Yellow For Hermaphrodite - Mani's Story

Directed by John Kier & Narrated by Jim Mora

This documentary traces the life of intersex activist Mani Mitchell. 'Intersexual' is a term to describe a person with atypical combinations of the biological features that usually distinguish males from females. Mitchell's harrowing but ultimately inspiring story is told via candid and articulate interviews, as Mitchell talks about being made a "hospital freak show tour" by doctors, and growing up secretly 'middlesex'. The Dominion Post's Jane Bowron called Mani's Story "one of the great survivor stories". It won the 2004 Qantas Media Award for Best Documentary. 

Click here to view Mani's Story. 

Intersexion

Directed by Grant Lahood & Narrated and Presented by Mani Bruce Mitchell

Is it a boy? Is it a girl? What if it’s neither? This award-winning documentary explores the world of the intersexed (formerly known as hermaphrodites) — those born with any one of 30 conditions that make their gender ambiguous. Presenter Mani Bruce Mitchell — New Zealand’s first ‘out’ intersex person — and director Grant Lahood had to travel overseas to find interviewees who would talk freely. They discuss living in a society with a binary view of gender which, at best, has made them all but invisible; and, at worst, has subjected many to damaging “corrective” surgery.

Click here to view.

Carmen

Directed by Geoff Steven & Starring Mika

In more repressed times, Carmen was one of NZ's most colourful and controversial figures. Geoff Steven's doco traces the life story of the transgender icon who was born Trevor Rupe in Taumarunui in 1936 and went on to be a dancer, sex worker, madam, cafe owner — and one of the few non-MPs to appear before the Privileges Committee. Steven shines a light on a bygone era of gay culture but avoids the temptation to focus on the seedy — opting, instead, for extended fantasy sequences (featuring Neil Gudsell aka Mika) to illustrate key moments in Carmen's life.

Click here to view. 

Tala Pasifika - Talk of the Town

Directed by Lani Tupi & Written by Lisa Taouma

Tala Pasifika was a pioneering Pacific Island drama series; this award-winning episode is one of six films that screened on TV One in 1996. 'Talk of the Town' is an entertaining short drama about Cindy (Henry Ah-Foo Taripo), a fa'afafine who has grown up to become a cabaret performer. She breaks the fourth wall from her dressing room to tell her story, which begins in her youth when her father (Alvin Fitisemanu) is impressed by her culinary skills and assigns her to the role of family cook.

Click here to view.