Now in its sixth year, Someday Stories presents another exciting batch of short films from fresh local filmmaking talent.
Someday Stories is a platform showcasing the works of emerging young filmmaking talent in Aotearoa. Supported by funding agencies NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho, this year’s six short films (selected from 77 applications) are comprised of two documentaries and four dramas based on true events—telling personal stories of identity and experiences of language, grief and whānau.
Releasing every Monday and Wednesday from 29 August, half of this year’s Someday Stories selection is now available to watch via the Someday Stories website and screen partners RNZ, Whakaata Māori and PlayStuff. The remaining three films will become available in the following two weeks.
This year’s six Someday Stories films are…
Mary Mary
Release: Monday 29th August | Rated M | Drama
An out of wedlock pregnancy forces eighteen year old Mary to take things into her own hands at great personal risk, altering the course of more than one life.
Writer/Director: Gabriella Gilbert
Producers: Ashleigh Roworth,
Consulting Producer: Emma Mortimer
Production Mentor: Michelle Savill
Script Consultant: Fiona Samuel
Kava ‘o Aotearoa
Release: Wednesday 31st August | Rated G | Documentary
A collective of Pasifika cultural guardians reactivate ancient Tu’i Tonga kava ceremony for contemporary use in Aotearoa in a way that honours tangata whenua.
Concept & Director: Joshua Teariki Baker
Producer: Maria Tanner
Production Mentor: Andrew McGeorge
Birthday
Release: Monday 5th September | Rated M – Adult Themes | Drama
Celebrating a birthday, a young boy and his exhausted babysitter wait for his unusually late parents.
Writer/Director: Sam Goodey
Producers: Ashlyn Phillips & Sam Goodey
Production Mentor: Kathy McRae
Script Consultant: Fiona Samuel
LARP: Heroes, Villains & Fantasy
Release: Wednesday 7th September | Rated M | Documentary
Live Action Roleplay enables people to explore their identities, helping them to overcome physical, mental and social barriers.
Director: Holli Lovesy
Producer: Paul Kennedy
Production Mentor: Dylan Reeve
Maumahara
Release: Monday 12th September | Rated PG | Drama (pictured above)
A recycling truck driver takes his son on a night shift and tries to impress upon him the importance of not losing his reo.
Writer & Director: Kaitiaki Rodger
Producer: Kat Glass
Production Mentor: Catherine Fitzgerald
Script Consultant: Fiona Samuel
Hand in Hand
Release: Wednesday 14th September | Rated PG | Drama
At a 1970’s NZ school where sign language is banned, two deaf girls risk it all to experience true friendship.
Writer/Director: Shelley Waddams
Producer: Georgia Hoskins-Smith
Production Mentor: Georgina Conder
Script Consultant: Fiona Samuel
