A highlight selection of the best short films from Ngā Whanaunga: Aotearoa New Zealand's Best 2025, including all award winners, will screen in the regions.
Ngā Whanaunga: Aotearoa New Zealand's Best 2025 Highlights
Session dates and venues to be announced
The votes have been counted and the jury has deliberated, the best shorts of the year have been selected and will screen throughout the country.
Womb 2024
A young filly struggles to break from the stable in this absurd and wildly original fable, starkly reminding us of the past dehumanisation of Indigenous whānau. — LK
Winner of Umbrella Entertainment Best Short Film Award
Growing Still 2025
An elderly woman wilting away in a retirement home longs to commune with the vibrant natural world outside. This magical short offers a positive spin on our impending mortality. — MM
Winner of Auckland Live Spirit of the Civic Award
Stage Challenge 2024
Shy Ali joins a group of zealous schoolgirls creating a stage challenge concept that will both wow audiences and distract the girls from their concerns for the future. — HH
Winner of Wellington UNESCO Creative City of Film Emerging Talent Award
Mirumiru 2025
In this captivating animation, a koro leads a desperate chase after the mirumiru (bubbles) of memories that escape his deteriorating wife before they’re gone forever. — HH
Co-Winner of Letterboxd Award for Māori Pasifika Talent
Picking Crew 2025
A subtle and poignant exploration of Pasifika masculinity and its queer-tinged boundaries. — LK
Co-Winner of Letterboxd Award for Māori Pasifika Talent
Let’s Settle This 2025
Two kung fu masters meet in a Chinese diner via a dating app and turn to the art to settle scores. — CG
Winner of the Ngā Whanaunga: Aotearoa New Zealand's Best Audience Award 2025