Films
Find out what type of films have been produced by our staff.
Ngā Tohunga Whakatere - The Navigators (2022)
Ngā Tohunga Whakatere - The Navigators is a family-friendly animated 30-minute immersive show that’ll take you on an unforgettable adventure across the Pacific Ocean.
Directed, co-written and co-produced by Lala Rolls under the tikanga and matauranga leadership of Joe Harawira, Lawrence Wharerau and master navigator Jack Thatcher, with astrobiologist, Haritina Mogoșanu driving the science side.
Space Place presents Ngā Tohunga Whakatere - The Navigators, a planetarium film sharing the story of Māori, Pasifika and, later, European navigation towards Aotearoa through the eyes of a young girl, Moko.
Moko dreams of becoming a master star navigator like her tūpuna and like her koro Jack. The budding navigator finds herself travelling through time and space in the wake of the greatest Pacific navigators, in a fully immersive planetarium show on Space Place’s stunning digital, full-dome planetarium screen. Journey with Moko as she gains knowledge and understanding of Māori, Pasifika and European voyaging traditions and realises how skilled her tūpuna had to be to travel the largest ocean on Earth.
Including and celebrating the talents of our region, including an amazing musical score by Riki Gooch Pirihi (Trinity Roots, Fat Freddy’s Drop) and Stephen Gallagher (Emmy Award winner) and a orchestra of local musicians, taonga pūoro Alistair Fraser and Cook Island drummers. Sound edit and mix at Park Road Post and our animation director. We were privileged to work with Kevin Romond and the amazing team at VUW’s own Miramar Creative Centre for our motion capture.
About the Director/Writer/Producer: Lala Rolls
Follow the Light (2022)
A film by Alfio Leotta, Cameron Madams and Emma O'Brien.
Directed by Cameron Madams.
Since returning to Wellington to attend university, Lena has been having unusual dreams consisting of visions of her late mother and a powerful pounamu. During her first lecture, Lena finds the pounamu from her dreams left by a mysterious boy, Tai. Upon returning the pounamu, Tai leads Lena on a fantastical journey of discovery through a world of knowledge and light she never knew existed. This film was produced to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Victoria University of Wellington and it was made by students, staff and alumni from Film, Theatre and Design.
Screenplay by: Cameron Madams and Emma O'Brien
Produced by: Alfio Leotta, Cameron Madams and Emma O'Brien
Executive Producers: Doug Easterly, Dave Hakaraia, Kevin Romond, Mere Skerrett, Paul Wolffram
Cast: Parekawa Finlay, Tanea Heke, Sebastian Hunter, Emma Katene, David O'Donnell
About the Producer: Alfio Leotta
Wildfire (2022)
A short documentary film by Paul Wolffram.
Wildfire explores the rise of ‘sanguma’ – sorcery, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea =. Sorcery Accusation Related Violence (SARV) is an introduced idea, a new thing to many towns and villages in the Highlands. The film provides direct accounts from those who combat the violence, and from those who have witnessed and participated in sorcery killings.
An unflinching look at the horrific realities of sorcery violence as seen and experienced by those who live with the issues. This short documentary will change the way you perceive life in the Pacific. It aims to prompt audience to be part of the change that is needed.
Producers: Shu Run Yap, Paul Wolffram
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Paul Wolffram
Official Selection: Doc Edge Film Festival (2022)
Support Evelyn Kunda's Safe House
About the Director: Paul Wolffram
Only F**ks Pat Me On the Head (2021)
A short film by Paul Wolffram, Steph Miller and Abby Lyons. Directed by Steph Miller and Paul Wolffram.
Jon Little negotiates his daily life as a disabled person and deals with a society that doesn’t accommodate his needs as well as it does for most able-bodied people.
Jon invites the audience to ride along with him as he manages the challenges of finding a new job amid Covid-19, hiring a new support person, being a friend, and finding love, all while trying to avoid people who ask him how fast his electric wheelchair goes.
Jon has a determination to rival even the steepest set of stairs. He puts up with a lot of crap, and invites us to share in a little of the everyday frustrations, fears, joys, and humour that he encounters.
Directors: Steph Miller & Paul Wolffram
Producers: Abby Lyons & Paul Wolffram
Production Company: Handmade Productions Aotearoa Ltd
Winner – Best Director and Best Cinematography – New York Short Documentaty Film Festival (2021)
Selected – New Zeeland International Film Festival (2021) – New Zealand’s Best Shorts Selection.
Finalist – Melbourne Short Film Festival (2022)
Selected - Hungarian Disability Film Festival (2022)
Selected – Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival (2021)
About the Director: Paul Wolffram
What Lies That Way (2017)
A film by Paul Wolffram
What Lies That Way – a film by and about magic
What Lies That Way follows Paul Wolffram as he returns to the isolated rain forest community who hosted him 10 years earlier. Paul has come back determined to undergo the dangerous initiation process into the Buai shaman cult. Following several days of preparation Paul is taken to the oldest practitioner of Buai in the region. In a remote area of the forest Paul is given substances and left to fast without food or water for four days and nights, alone in the bush. The shamanistic practice promises access to enhanced creative power for those who can endure the fasting but the initiation also risks exposure to seductive darker powers. The film delves deep into the cultural encounter, a world of magic and sorcery, to seek and understand – What Lies That Way.
Visit the What Lies That Way website
About the Producer/Director: Paul Wolffram
Stefano's Team (2014)
A film by Alfio Leotta and Michele Fontana.
What is an Italian soccer fanatic doing in a remote area of New Zealand's Northland? Will he find enough friends to put together a soccer team? Stefano's Team tells the story of an Italian migrant who has moved to a rural region of New Zealand. He has carried with him his passion for soccer that he tries to share with both local people and international travellers. He has to overcome countless obstacles to pursue his passion while living in this unspoilt natural paradise. Stefano's Team is a short documentary that deals with themes of cultural integration, alienation, friendship and passion.
About the Director/Writer: Alfio Leotta
Nga Reo O Te Whenua – Voices of the Land (2014)
A film by Paul Wolffram.
Richard Nunns has been a primary figure in retrieving taonga pūoro, the traditional instruments of the Māori, from the silence of the museum. Archivist, researcher, composer and performer, he has worked – first with the late Hirini Melbourne, and here with Horomona Horo – to reinstate lost performance traditions. For Nunns, the sounds of the instruments ‘sit somewhere between the sounds of the natural world and the human voice’: the performer enters and joins the soundscape of nature. As the two men engage in musical conversation with a number of remarkable South Island locations, director Paul Wolffram and editor Annie Collins orchestrate the artistry of cinematographer Alun Bollinger and sound designer Tim Prebble to render the experience sublimely cinematic. We also meet master carver Brian Flintoff who works on intricate new flutes. Performances are interwoven with tributes – many of them musical – to the value of Nunns’ discoveries and dedication. As Nunns contemplates his own failing body, the film’s attunement to natural forces – ebbing away and then resurgent – summons the spirits that have found renewal through him.
About the Producer/Director: Paul Wolffram
Stori Tumbuna: Ancestors’ Tales (2011)
A film by Paul Wolffram.
Stori Tumbuna: Ancestors’ Tales is a feature length ethnographic documentary produced over ten years.
The film is based in the remote region of Southern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea and focuses on the lives, culture and mythologies of the Lak people. The region has no permanent roads, no power, water supply and little in the way of public services. Communication is difficult throughout Southern New Ireland and children must travel out of the region for their education. Like most self-sufficient rain forest communities the Lak have had few opportunities to present themselves to the rest of the world. This film is a collaboration between people of the Lak region and Paul Wolffram, an ethnomusicologist who lived in the region for over two years.
Visit the Stori Tumauna: Ancestors' Tales Wordpress website
About the Producer/Director: Paul Wolffram
Rubber's Kastom (2011)
A film by Paul Wolffram.
The film describes the processes involved in Lak funeral or mortuary rituals. The various stages of the rites are presented in combination with an overview of the political and social setting against which the rites are usually performed. As a background to the ritual processes described in the first half of the film, Rubber details his aspirations for his own ritual. He describes how he came to be one of the leading practitioners within the secret men's society and a man of political and social importance. The second half of the film shows the complete ritual process as it was performed "by Rubber for Rubber" in January 2005.
About the Producer/Director: Paul Wolffram
Te To’kie i Nukunonu: An Introduction to Tokelau Weaving (2011)
A film by Paul Wolffram.
This film tells the story of the traditional art of Nukunonu weaving in the lives of the Tokelau community in Wellington, New Zealand. The Nukunonu women of Wellington describe the process, preparations and practice of weaving as it was conducted by their Grandmothers, Mothers and how they continue these practices in their new lives in New Zealand. The stories and traditions of Tokelau weaving are interwoven with Tokelau song and dance, and presented by Kalameli Teinawho Ihaia Alewhohio.
About the Producer/Director: Paul Wolffram
X.O. GENESIS (2009)
A film by Rowan Wernham & James Robinson, produced by Thierry Jutel.
X.O.Genesis is an experimental short that mashes sci-fi with a painterly universe.
An epic frenzy of animation, the film is a collaboration between artist James Robinson and director/animator Rowan Wernham.
The story unfolds as a glorious apocalypse and lo-fi reclamation of the space opera genre.
Visit the x.o. genesis website
About the Producer: Thierry Jutel
Te Eitei: The Banaban Story (2007)
A film by Paul Wolffram.
In December 1945 the entire population of the small Micronesian island of Banaba or Ocean Island were loaded onto a ship and taken to a new island. The 1,003 men, women and children who were forced to leave their homeland were mostly sick, malnourished and still recovering from the horrors of WW2. This is their story, a tale of determination, strength and survival.
Each year in December, Banabans living on Rabi Island (part of Fiji) celebrate their unique cultural identity with a week of celebrations. The festivities include Banaban cultural displays, sports events and provide a venue in which Banaban elders pass on the history of their people to younger generations. Te Eitei: The Banaban Story is an emotional and deeply moving account of the Banaban people, their history and their determination to overcome.
About the Producer/Director: Paul Wolffram