Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the ‘Show Me Shorts’ 2016 Programme

New Zealand’s biggest international short film festival, Show Me Shorts, has announced the full programme of short films in the 2016 line-up. The 11^th edition of New Zealand’s pre-eminent short film festival will showcase 47 superb short films from New Zealand and around the world, at more than 20 cinemas nationwide from 1 October.

Show Me Shorts received 1,500 submissions from more than 60 countries this year – a massive 50% increase on 2015. The final selection includes 19 New Zealand short films, 23 international short films and five local music videos.

This year’s batch is segmented into six unique screenings, each adhering to a common theme: Secrets and Lies, My Generation, Homeland, Heartstrings, He Tangata, and Bump in the Night. There is also the Highlights section which provides a taster from each section.

Have a closer look at each section, what is screening, where it’ll screen, and when it will screen.

Secrets and Lies

The characters in these short films are all hiding something. Featuring a sordid night out, a thirst for vengeance, guilt, loneliness, sexual indiscretion, rock ‘n’ roll and a heist gone wrong. The suppression or revelation of their secrets will play out to deliver high drama, action, comedy and surprises. To what lengths will they go to hide or uncover the truth? Are the rumours true?

The Event

Comedy | NZ | Dir: Eddy Fifield | Writ: Dominic Hoey | Prod: Hazel Gibson
Set in Auckland’s infamous K R’d, the morning after. Seff is trying to find his keys while battling a vicious hangover and a sordid rumour.

Long Time Coming
Drama | NZ (world premiere) | Dir/Writ: Tom Augustine | Prod: Puteri Raja Ariff, Rebekah Ngatae, Sarah Hall
When Alice’s friend is the victim of a disturbing crime, she seeks help getting revenge as she grapples with grief and anger.

Break In The Weather
Drama | NZ (world premiere) | Dir/Writ: Aidee Walker | Prod: Alexander Gandar
Jamie unexpectedly finds herself being the live-in nurse for the person she despises most – her father. Can the pop hits of the 90s help her overcome the betrayal from her past?

Fract
Drama | NZ (world premiere) | Dir/Writ: Georgina Bloomfield | Prod: Dave Mark
A teenage outcast discovers the cast on her broken arm can be a way to make new friends.

Wait
Drama | NZ | Dir/Writ: Yamin Tun | Prod: Vicky Pope, Daniel Higgins
This award winning short film tells the story of a Chinese migrant family in 1980s New Zealand that is at the point of breaking apart.

Love is Blind
Comedy | UK (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Dan Hodgson | Prod: Elizabeth Brown
When Alice’s husband James returns home early to try and fix their marriage, Alice is in the arms of a her lover. A comedic quest begins as she attempts the reconciliation while simultaneously negotiating the lover’s escape.

Homebodies
Comedy | Australia (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Yianni Warnock | Prod: Charles Williams
Shannon cooks dinner whilst speaking to a perverted stranger online. Meanwhile her husband Andrew takes a bath wrapped in Christmas lights. A hilarious and shocking tale of two lost souls looking for solace in the wrong places.

Shout at the Ground
Comedy | NZ (world premiere) | Dir/Writ: Joe Lonie | Prod: Leela Menon, Robin Scholes
Trapped in a speeding van, a Kiwi rock band succumb to travel sickness while deconstructing the heist that robbed them of an entire weekend’s door take.

Times and Locations

Matakana Cinemas: Fri 14 Oct 8:30pm

Christchurch, Alice Cinematheque: Thu 27 Oct 8:30pm

Stewart Island, Bunkhouse Theatre: Sat 19 Nov 7:30pm

Wellington, The Embassy: Fri 14 Oct 8:30pm | Mon 17 Oct 4:00pm | Thu 20 Oct 6:30pm | Sat 22 Oct 4:00pm | Wed 26 Oct 4:00pm

Antarctica, Scott Base: Special screening in association with Antarctica New Zealand: Thu 22 Dec – Mon 2 Jan

My Generation

Embrace your inner child with this family-friendly selection of short films, featuring some of the top animation from Aotearoa and around the world. Meet a pint-sized inventor, a fastidious reindeer, a submarine captain left high and dry, and an entrepreneurial boy starting his own business making bow ties.

Kitten Witch
Fantasy | NZ (world premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: James Cunningham
A young kitten wants to be a witch’s familiar and must pass a test or she will forever be just a simple cat. But the witch sees something in the kitten she does not expect.

Hey Deer!
Animation | Hungary (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Örs Bárczy
Each day an adorable deer eagerly tidies his house and shovels the snow from in front of his door. Each night there is a suspicious earthquake which causes the mess and snow to fall once more.

Litterbugs
Adventure | UK (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Peter Stanley-Ward | Writ: Natalie Conway
Helped by her self-made flying mechanical creatures, a young inventor and a pint-sized superhero defeat the town bullies and find an unexpected friendship.

Perched
Animation | UK (NZ premiere) | Dir: Liam Harris | Writ: Nathaniel Price, Eoin Doran
Hamish Fint is a crotchety old man used to a life of seclusion inside his submarine balanced precariously atop a mountain. He struggles to maintain equilibrium when an unwelcome visiting seagull rocks his world.

Ladi6 – Beffy
Music Video | NZ | Dir: Parallel Teeth
A colourful adventure following a rhythmic tale of friendship.

Mo Can Tie A Bow
Documentary | Germany (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: André Hörmann
Mo is an 11yr-old boy with big dreams. He has set up a successful small business making and selling bow-ties. He learned this craft from his grandmother Arlene.

Fulfilament
Animation | UK (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Rhiannon Evans | Writ: Joe Murtagh
This delightful animation follows a little lightbulb on a journey to find his place and his purpose in the world.

Spring Jam
Animation | NZ | Dir/Writ: Ned Wenlock | Prod: Georgiana Plaister
A young stag, lacking impressive antlers, knows he needs to improvise sweet music if he’s to have any chance during the mating season.

Times and Locations

Auckland, Academy Cinemas: Sun 2 Oct 2:00pm | Mon 3 Oct 4:30pm | Wed 5 Oct 6:30pm | Sat 8 Oct 2:00pm | Fri 14 Oct 4:30pm

Auckland, Devonport – The Vic: Sun 9 Oct 4:00pm

Cinema 3 Pukekohe: Mon 24 Oct 1:30pm

Christchurch, Alice Cinematheque: Sat 29 Oct 1:00pm

Kaitaia, Te Ahu: Sat 29 Oct 2:30pm

Pahiatua, Regent Upstairs: Sat 22 Oct 2:00pm | Mon 24 Oct 2:00pm

Stewart Island, Bunkhouse Theatre: Sat 7 Jan 7:30pm

Wellington, The Embassy: Sat 15 Oct 4:00pm | Thu 20 Oct 4:00pm | Sun 23 Oct 4:00pm | Tue 25 Oct 4:00pm

Antarctica, Scott Base: Special screening in association with Antarctica New Zealand: Thu 22 Dec – Mon 2 Jan

Homeland

Our feelings about the word homeland have a special charge. It’s more than where we live, but a part of us we carry around, shaping who we are. So when we’re homesick, we can feel a physical pain or emptiness. The characters in these short films are all very different: astronauts, explorers, a shepherd, a mother, and a lovesick coffee table. Some of them are far from home, others are trying to create or maintain one, or get back to theirs. The thing they have in common is a deep yearning for the warm hearth of their homeland.

Cradle
Sci-fi | NZ | Dir: Damon Duncan | Writ: Hugh Calveley
Eade is a 14yr-old girl returning to Earth on the spaceship Cradle when an explosion cripples the spacecraft and injures her dad. She must try to outwit the computer that refuses to perform the operation needed to save his life.

Zero M2
Drama | France (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Matthieu Landour | Writ: Nicolas Bovorasmy
After a series of unsuccessful flat-hunts in Paris, Paul finally moves into a nice affordable studio. He soon notices something amiss with his neighbours´strange behaviours and dubious noises during the night.

Ha the Unclear – Secret Lives of Furniture
Music video | NZ | Dir: Simon Oliver | Prod: Sadie Wilson
An entire lounge of furniture comes to life in this inventive music video about a coffee table infatuated with its owner.

In The Distance
Drama | Germany (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Florian Grolig
It’s calm and peaceful above the clouds in this serene animation observing a man living isolated at the top of a tall building. But in the distance is war, and night by night the chaos advances.

Parvaneha (Butterflies)
Drama | Iran (world premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Adnan Zandi
Any mother can relate to this short story of an Iranian woman searching for somewhere private to feed her hungry baby.

9 Chemin des Gauchoirs
Animation | France (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Lyonel Charmette | Prod: Jean-François Sarazin
A shepherd follows a wayward goat onto a mysterious cable car, where each carriage has been converted into an elaborate room from a house. Where are the owners?

Icarus
Sci-fi | USA (world premiere) | Dir/Writ: Tom Teller | Writ: Andrew Guastaferro
When a Mars colony comms satellite is damaged, Emilia Riley embarks on a seemingly harmless repair excursion. A shuttle malfunction cuts connectivity to the ground and Chris, her son, makes the knee-jerk decision to go after her.

Times and Locations

Auckland, Devonport- The Vic: Sat 8 Oct 6:00pm

Christchurch, Alice Cinematheque: Fri 28 Oct 6:00pm

Stewart Island, Bunkhouse Theatre: Wed 11 Jan 7:30pm

Wellington, The Embassy: Sun 16 Oct 6:30pm | Tue 18 Oct 6:30pm | Fri 21 Oct 4:00pm | Tue 25 Oct 6:30pm

Antarctica, Scott Base: Special screening in association with Antarctica New Zealand: Thu 22 Dec – Mon 2 Jan

Heartstrings

Romantic love breeds rich and complex emotions, perfect subject matter for short film makers to mine. This compilation of tiny but powerful stories, touching on love in many forms, will tug your heartstrings. There’s young love, unrequited love, searching for love, heartbreak, love making, and the kind of love that lasts a lifetime.

Big Bird

Rom-com | Ireland (NZ premiere) | Writ: Derek O’Connor | Prod: Declan Lynch
Two underdogs are looking for love and they might just have found it.
Dir: Jan Boon

Topsy and Dave
Documentary | NZ | Dir: Kirsty Griffin, Vivienne Kernick | Prod: Bella Pacific Media
Love, patience, understanding and support are the cornerstone of any successful marriage. That’s never more obvious than in this documentary where we meet Topsy and Dave, residents of ‘The Supported Life Style Hauraki Trust’ who are preparing for their big day.

Nkosi Coiffure
Drama | Belgium (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Frederike Migom | Prod: Jules Debrock
During a fight with her boyfriend on the street in Brussels’ Congolese neighbourhood, Eva escapes into a hair salon. The African women in the salon initially support her, seeing a woman in distress. But when they find out what the fight is about, opinions differ.

Eight Years Later
Drama | NZ (world premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Andrew R. Blackman
Eight years after Marc rejected the birth of his daughter resulting from a one-night stand, he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for in a relationship. A dramatisation of anecdotes by the real-life Marc.

Love on the Top
Drama | Slovenia (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Jan Cvitkovič | Prod: Miha Černec
A vivacious 80-year-old couple have been together for what has virtually been their whole life. They live in a modest little house with an idyllic old-fashioned rural atmosphere. Or do they?

LarzRanda – Lifeguard
Music video | NZ | Dir: THUNDERLIPS | Prod: Anna Duckworth, Tammy Brenstrum
A lifeguard at a country club for teens executes a daring plan to win the heart of a patron he admires in this energetic and fun music video.

Victor XX
Drama | Spain (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Ian Garrido
A young woman is experimenting with her gender by picking up a woman as a man, while her girlfriend waits at home.

Mixteip – The Greatest Tape Ever Told
Music | Finland (NZ premiere) | Dir: Teemu Åke | Writ: Susanna Åke | Prod: Meri-Ellen Pystynen
Nothing stimulates memories like music. This is a story of heartbreak and nostalgia told through the eyes of a cassette tape trying to reunite two ex-lovers.

Times and Locations

Auckland, Academy Cinemas: Tue 4 Oct 6:30pm | Thu 6 Oct 6:30pm | Sat 8 Oct 6:30pm | Sun 9 Oct 2:00pm | Mon 10 Oct 4:30pm

Christchurch, Alice Cinematheque: Sun 30 Oct 8:30pm

Stewart Island, Bunkhouse Theatre: Wed 30 Nov 7:30pm

Wellington, The Embassy: Sun 16 Oct 4:00pm | Wed 19 Oct 6:30pm | Sat 22 Oct 8:30pm | Mon 24 Oct 4:00pm

Antarctica, Scott Base: Special screening in association with Antarctica New Zealand: Thu 22 Dec – Mon 2 Jan

He Tangata

An old Maori proverb asks:
He aha te mea nui o te ao? (What is the most important thing in the world?)
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. (It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.)

This selection of short films brings together interesting people from Aotearoa and abroad. We meet Kiwis Anna, Stevo, Chelsea Jade and a group of flatmates re-shuffling their living arrangements. Journey from the snowy mountains of Kyrgyzstan, via an animated train, through war-torn landscapes, to a bathtub in Germany where three brothers are comically re-united.

Chelsea Jade – Low Brow
Music video | NZ | Dir: Alexander Gandar | Prod: Billie Ruck
A bold rendition of Chelsea Jade’s pop banger ‘Low Brow’ performed by the artist with her unique visual style and presence.

Stevo
Documentary | NZ | Dir/Prod: Heather Hayward | Prod: Lesley Parker, Michelle Savill
Stevo lives his life between Wellington city where he works as a security guard, and his home in the Urewera forests. He bridges the two worlds with the help of traditional Māori trade and barter.

Seide

Drama | Kyrgyzstan (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Elnura Osmonalieva
The breathtaking beauty of Kyrgyzstan’s snowy mountains are only just eclipsed by the powerful performances in this gentle tale of a girl forced into an arranged marriage.

Home
Drama | Kosovo (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Daniel Mulloy
As thousands of refugees attempt to get into Europe, a comfortable English family sets out on what appears to be a holiday…

Moving
Drama | NZ | Dir/Writ: Leon Wadham, Eli Kent | Prod: Molly O’Shea, Ruby Reihana-Wilson
In the wake of a painful break-up a group of friends band together to help the former couple move out of their old room.

ANNA
Drama | NZ (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Harriett Maire | Prod: Phoebe Jeurissen
Anna is a young woman on the Autism spectrum. When someone takes her seat on the bus, she must cope with this unexpected change in her routine.

Une Tete Disparait (The Head Vanishes)

Animation | France (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Franck Dion | Prod: Richard Van Den Boom, Julie Roy
Jacqueline is an elderly woman who has lost her mind a bit, but whatever, she has decided to take a train trip to the seaside by herself.

Die Badewanne (The Bathtub)
Comedy | Germany (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Tim Ellrich | Writ: Dominik Huber
Three brothers try to dive back into their idealised past through an old family picture of them in a bathtub.

Times and Locations

Auckland, Academy Cinemas: Mon 3 Oct 8:30pm | Wed 5 Oct 4:30pm | Thu 6 Oct 8:15pm | Sat 8 Oct 4:30pm | Tue 11 Oct 4:30pm

Christchurch, Alice Cinematheque: Tue 1 Nov 6:00pm

Stewart Island, Bunkhouse Theatre: Wed 23 Nov 7:30pm

Wellington, The Embassy: Fri 14 Oct 4:00pm | Mon 17 Oct 6:30pm | Wed 19 Oct 4:00pm | Sun 23 Oct 6:30pm

Antarctica, Scott Base: Special screening in association with Antarctica New Zealand: Thu 22 Dec – Mon 2 Jan

Bump in the Night

It’s not easy to scare or shock with a short film. We don’t get creeped out very easily. If you’re up for a fright or enjoy being sunk into a sinister world created from the imagination of top filmmakers, this is the place. These short films are darkly impressive, tapping into our fears both real and imagined.

No Caller I.D.
Horror | NZ (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Guy Pigden | Prod: Harley Neville
A young woman receives a mysterious call in the night. After several strange events, she realises that she is not alone and that she may be in grave danger.

Wandering Soul
Horror | Australia (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ: Josh Tanner | Writ/Prod: Jade van der Lei
A Viet Cong soldier stationed in the claustrophobic tunnels of Cu Chi during the Vietnam War finds himself haunted by the ghost of a fallen comrade after the burial ceremony is compromised.

Sheep, Dog & Wolf – Breathe
Music video | NZ | Dir: THUNDERLIPS | Prod: Anna Duckworth, Meredith Rehburg, Mickey Finis, Alix Whittaker
The oppressive feeling of not being able to breathe is captured in this visually engaging music video.

Unfaithful
Thriller | NZ (world premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Lucy Timmins
All he wants is forgiveness from his girlfriend, but there are some things you can never come back from.

Knot
Drama | NZ/Australia (NZ premiere) | Dir/Writ/Prod: Niamh Peren
In the sweeping rural landscape of Central Otago, a group of teenagers on a hunting trip turn violent.

Fabricated
Sci-fi | USA (World premiere) | Dir: Brett Foxwell
This ambitious stop-motion animated short film, ten years in the making, is a journey through a darkly fantastic alien world which was once our own.

Feeder
Horror | NZ | Dir: Christain Rivers | Writ: Guy McDouall | Prod: Mhairead Connor
A songwriter must decide what lines he’s willing to cross when a dark entity starts providing him with inspiration in exchange for an ever-increasing price.

Shmeat
Animation | NZ | Dir/Writ: Matasila Freshwater | Prod: Thomas Coppell
In a dystopic New Zealand future, the struggle for food and resources inspires a peculiar scientist to venture into the night and procure a new food source.

Times and Locations

Auckland, Academy Cinemas: Tue 4 Oct 8:15pm | Thu 6 Oct 4:30pm | Fri 7 Oct 4:30pm | Sat 8 Oct 8:15pm | Wed 12 Oct 8:30pm

Christchurch, Alice Cinematheque: Mon 31 Oct 8:30pm

Stewart Island, Bunkhouse Theatre: Sat 26 Nov 7:30pm

Wellington, The Embassy: Sat 15 Oct 8:30pm | Tue 18 Oct 4:00pm | Fri 21 Oct 8:30pm | Mon 24 Oct 6:30pm

Antarctica, Scott Base: Special screening in association with Antarctica New Zealand: Thu 22 Dec – Mon 2 Jan

Highlights

This carefully curated selection includes some of our most interesting and fun short films. It’s a great way to sample what Show Me Shorts is all about. The films on offer include both local and international stories: an animated deer, a wedding doco, a coffee table in love with it’s owner, a shrinking apartment, a trip to the seaside, a dystopian future, a band on tour, and perhaps most shockingly – a German comedy.

Zero M2
Drama | France | Dir/Writ: Matthieu Landour | Writ: Nicolas Bovorasmy
After a series of unsuccessful flat-hunts in Paris, Paul finally moves into a nice affordable studio. He soon notices something amiss with his neighbours´strange behaviours and dubious noises during the night.

Une Tete Disparait (The Head Vanishes)
Animation | France | Dir/Writ/Prod: Franck Dion
Jacqueline is an elderly woman who has lost her mind a bit, but whatever, she has decided to take a train trip to the seaside by herself.

Fabricated
Sci-fi | USA | Dir: Brett Foxwell
This ambitious stop-motion animated short film, ten years in the making, is a journey through a darkly fantastic alien world which was once our own.

Die Badewanne (The Bathtub)
Comedy | Germany | Dir/Writ/Prod: Tim Ellrich | Writ: Dominik Huber
Three brothers try to dive back into their idealised past through an old family picture of them in a bathtub.

Shout at the Ground
Comedy | NZ | Dir/Writ: Joe Lonie | Prod: Leela Menon, Robin Scholes
Trapped in a speeding van, a Kiwi rock band succumb to travel sickness while deconstructing the heist that robbed them of an entire weekend’s door take.