ONLY F**KS PAT ME ON THE HEAD

What the film here.

Only F**ks Pat Me On The Head was selected as a finalist for Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival’s (NZIFF) New Zealand’s Best Short Film Competition in 2021.

The film also won Best Director and Best Cinematography at NYC Short Documentary Film Festival in 2021.

“I suppose you wanna ask me how fast my chair goes?”

Jon 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 humor that he encounters.

“This documentary hybrid began as a collorative process of off-screen interviews, scripting and production meetings with Jon Little - the star of the film. With Jon taking a lead creative role, this film brings his personal story and experiences to the screen in his own words. It allows the audience to see authentic experiences and encourages understanding and connectedness. The film is a combination of scripted reenactments and sequences of reality that provides an honest (and funny) commentary on disability.”

Rat Man

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Daryl, a reclusive ex convict, turns local hero when his state home and the surrounding community of Strathmore Park is overrun by rats.

Rat Man was co-directed and co-produced by Steph Miller and Belle Gwilliam. Thanks to our sponsors, Ocular NZ, Wellington City Council and Chillbox Creative.

“Rat Man brings up some big questions around redemption and second chances. We wanted to explore relationships in this film, relationships with family, relationships with neighbours, with community, with the wider world. And for me it asks and answers the age old question, can people really change?”

Humans

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Humans won Best NZ Short at the prestigious Documentary Edge International Film Festival in 2019.

Directed by Steph Miller and produced by Shu Run Yap, Humans connects four different people through their shared experience of homelessness. Al, Craig, Aroha and Ben share their thoughts on the concept of home, belonging, love and loneliness.

These interwoven stories give insight to a community that is rarely given the opportunity to speak about their thoughts and experiences in such a way.

“I was interested in asking questions that they might not often get asked, questions that are universal, questions that get to the core of a person. Have you ever been in love? When was the last time you felt safe? When did you last feel like you belonged? These are shared experiences and emotions that connect all humans to one another, despite our differences, and this is what Humans is about”.

Poster by Belle Gwilliam

Poster by Belle Gwilliam

Wild

Tui is grappling with reality in the wake of trauma. Although deep in the New Zealand wilderness, Tui soon comes to realise she's not alone and can no longer run from her past.

Wild is directed by Steph Miller and produced by Shu Run Yap.

“Wild is about how your past affects your future, how every experience shapes you and most of all it’s about the strength we have to overcome anything. Shania Bayley-Edmonds and Luke McCarten are two young emerging actors that blew me away with their performances. They are both definitely ones to watch!”

Wasteland

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Dumpster-divers have a code; Leave it how you found it, only take what you need and don’t add to the waste. Dumpster-diver ‘Nobbs’ opens his door to a film crew and takes them on a journey to uncover just how wasteful New Zealand is. Afterwards they have bacon sandwiches.

“Wasteland was my first film and Nobbs enchanted audiences when we screened this - he’s the kind of person who personifies the term “don’t judge a book by its cover. I love working with interesting people who have such contradictory elements, in this case a tough punk exterior paired with a warm caring heart. I set out to make a film about a bigger issue, food waste in New Zealand, and we did that but I quickly realised my attraction stories with real characters and human centres. I gravitated towards the personal story at the centre of this bigger issue”.

Wasteland was featured in The Dominion Post, Stuff.co.nz and on TheWireless.co.nz.