The Wellingtonista

Random stuff about Wellington since 2005

Film

DocEdge: Mr Toilet review

by Rachel Kerr June 17, 2020

“Turning poop culture into pop culture is the fastest way to solve the sanitation crisis.” Having grown up in self-described slums of Singapore before sanitation arrived, Jack Sim has personal experience of its value. After being unsatisfied with his early success in business, he had a rethink, and made it his mission to bring toilets […]

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Preview: Show Me Shorts 2019 Programme Announced!

by Emma Maguire September 24, 2019

With its largest ever programme, the Show Me Shorts Film Festival opens at cinemas across Aotearoa from the 5th of October. With sixty short films and three music videos – all chosen from a record 2040 entries – this festival is sure to be one to remember. Eight Kiwi films will be making their word […]

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DocEdge preview: Honeyland

by Rachel Kerr June 10, 2019

Honeyland Directed by: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska Dressed in a high-necked yellow blouse, mottled long skirt and patterned headscarf, the leathery Hatidze Muratova negotiates a mountain ledge to find a remote hive where she extracts just the right amount of honey so that both she and her bees thrive. Back home in her ancient stone […]

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DocEdge preview: The Silence of Others

by Rachel Kerr June 3, 2019

DocEdge kicks off in Wellington on 13th June (running to the 23rd) and we’ve been fortunate enough to preview some of the films that will be showing. First up… The Silence of Others Directed by Almudena Carrucedo and Robert Bahar María Martín pins up her long grey hair with gnarled hands, then struggles with a […]

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Film : Where There Is Life

by Martha Craig July 31, 2017

The task of caring for his terminally ill wife Margaret falls squarely on the broad shoulders of Stephen Lee. He would not have it any other way. Wellington film maker Gwen Isaac’s observational documentary was shot over the four years following Eastbourne woman Margaret’s diagnosis with motor neuron disease. We watch as the focus of the […]

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Preview: Māoriland Film Festival 15-19 March 2017

by librarykris March 1, 2017

The Māoriland Film Festival 2017 programme includes multi-award winning features, documentaries and short films. Of the award winning feature films, there are eight New Zealand premieres. “Indigenous filmmakers are very keen to screen at Māoriland as they consider it to be the most important festival in the Southern hemisphere,” said Māoriland Charitable Trust chair Tainui […]

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Preview: The great maiden’s blush

by librarykris May 2, 2016

From the makers of Hook, Line & Sinker and Taking the Waewae Express comes a new female-centred story rich in drama and emotion. Two first time mothers, Bunny (Miriama McDowell) and Aila (Renee Lyons) end up sharing a room in a post-natal ward after the birth of their babies. A precarious friendship develops between them as they face the challenges […]

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Halloween Horror close to home

by Joanna September 28, 2015

Wellington-made horror film The Dead Room is sure to spook audiences this Halloween. Based on a true chilling New Zealand story from the 1970s, a psychic and two scientists are sent in to investigate paranormal activity at an Otago farmhouse after its terrified family flees. Wellington-based actress Laura Petersen, who plays the young psychic Holly […]

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Into the unknown

by Alan September 16, 2015

The deepest cave system in the Southern Hemisphere is in the Nelson hinterland. How do we know this? Because Kieran Mckay went in and explored it. One of Red Bull’s Explorers of the Century, he’ll be speaking about his experiences and introducing a film about his cave explorations on Saturday evening at Onslow College. “The […]

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Back to REALITi

by Tom September 5, 2015

Jonathan King and Chad Taylor’s micro-budget film REALITi, which debuted at last year’s Film Festival, is now available for paid streaming or download on Vimeo On Demand. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/realiti/137721192 A dark thriller set in the very near future, REALITi was shot in and around Wellington. One striking aspect (at least for me) was the inventive use it made of […]

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