Festival Programme

Films by Collection

– Shorts –

Our short film collections are headlined by the annual New Zealand’s Best competition and Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts, this year for the first time also a competitive section.

Animation lovers both young and adventurous are well catered for as usual, while we’ve expanded our short film selections into two additional programmes shaped around homegrown and artist filmmaking.

A celebratory showcase of some of the year’s best and brightest animated shorts. If you’re looking to sample the animation ecosystem in all its multi-coloured, variously-shaped glory, there’s no better place to begin.

Collected from far and wide, we know this latest selection of short film delights from brilliant animated artists the world over is sure to charm and captivate our favourite little audience – and all those indie-animation admirers we know get just as big a kick out of these terrific films as their little pals do.

On your mark, get set, it’s time for a whole lot of animated brilliance from all corners of our big wide world. Join us for metaphysical musings and reflective moments, laugh-out-loud gags and a load of animal antics – it’s your annual wintery fix of animated inventiveness and imagination.

Kiwi Shorts

Six delightful New Zealand shorts that epitomise the Kiwi lifestyle of 2020. Featuring lockdown narks and dorky dads; big monster crays and triple scoop ice creams; annoying brats and courageous stunts.

Art Shorts

From the sinking city of Venice to the disappearing islands of the Pacific and voyages in between, these four works from New Zealand and European artists share themes of loss and memory, letting the past inform the future.

A collection of Māori and Pasifika short films curated by Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka), Director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, with guest co-curator Craig Fasi (Niue), Director of the Pollywood Film Festival.

New Zealand's Best 2020

Help give the year’s best New Zealand short films the homegrown recognition they deserve by voting for your favourite.