Eight short films from Aotearoa and the Pacific have been selected by curators Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka), Director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, and Craig Fasi (Niue), Director of the Pollywood Film Festival and will screen during NZIFF in all festival locations.

The selected shorts this year are: Tulouna Le Lagi (dir: Pati Tyrell), Kōkako (dir: Douglas F. Brooks), Whakaako kia Whakaora / Educate to Liberate (dir: Robert George), The Last Sunday (dir: Saito Lilo), Mako (dir: Mark Papali’i), Bringing Mere Home (dir: Keelan Walker), He Pounamu Ko Āu (dir: Tia Barrett), and I Am Paradise (dir: Hiona Henare).

Co-curators Leo Koziol and Craig Fasi say “Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts 2023 is proudly local talent mastered for an international stage. This year's collection takes us on a journey. From the birds of the soaring forests, to the hard-scrabble streets of South Aukilani, the soaring mountains of Te Wai Pounamu, and the gentle sunset of the lake of Muaūpoko. Justified visual confrontations mourn with vigilance and speak of sacrifice with empowerment. Stories present a change in social attitudes that gift contemplation with an escapist fantasy feel. At the heart of it all - he tangata, he tangata, he tangata - it is people and the stories we tell, the struggles we overcome, the grief we grapple, the forever wisdom of each living day up on screen as Natives all, telling their own stories, their own way."

All finalists will be eligible for the Wellington UNESCO City of Film award for Best Film ($3000 cash prize), as judged by a jury. This award will be presented at the final Wellington screening of Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts. Audience members at Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Whanganui-a-Tara screenings will vote for their favourite short to win the Letterboxd Audience Award, a cash prize of $1000, and this will be announced at the Closing Night of NZIFF in Wellington.

See more here.