Takatāpui Shorts

FREE Takatāpui Short Film night curated for Pride Festival by Wairoa Māori Film Festival founder Leo Koziol (Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Rakaipaaka, Takatapui).

Director kōrero first, followed by an 8pm screening.

Maimai Aroha: Two of our short films were written or directed by Aroha Awarau, who tragically passed away at the start of this year. Tonight’s film programme is dedicated to the memory of Aroha Awarau, and all he achieved for Takatapui, Maori and Pasifika filmmaking. Moe mai ra, Aroha, moe mai ra.

PUTI
Director/Writer Aroha Awarau, 15 min, Aotearoa NZ 2025
It is a hard life on the street for Puti; perhaps she best not follow her mother’s footsteps. With hope, there is another journey, another possibility.

CHERRIES
Director Jaimee Poipoi, Writer Aroha Awarau, 9 min Aotearoa NZ 2025
When two single ladies attend an orgy for the first time, they end up exposing more than they ever could have imagined.

WAIT, WAIT, NOW!
Director Ramon Te Wake, 14 min, Aotearoa NZ 2025
When best friends Alex and Sam are left at home for the night, they do what all teenage boys do: raid mum’s wardrobe, play dress ups, and create a fantasy world where they feel safe and accepted. Well, maybe that's just what some boys do. But little do they know, the parents are on to them. Is there a safe bubble about to burst?

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE BAY
Director Judith Kanatahawi Schuyler, Producer Renae Maihi, 10 min, Aotearoa NZ, 2022
Two LGBTQ+ Indigenous friends in a straight NZ beach-town search desperately for the missing pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – gay people.

ATU PUAO TBC
Director Allie Howell, 14 min, Aotearoa NZ 2025
Amid the nightlife of a new city, a young Māori trans woman reckons with safety, isolation, and the fragile bonds of old friendships outgrown — as the promise of belonging rises just beyond the horizon.

O ALOFA NEI, O ALOFA NĀ TBC
Director Giselle Ilaoa, 9 min, Aotearoa NZ 2025
Manaia, a young woman caught between expectation and self-acceptance, finds herself
confronting her repressed sexuality when a chance reunion with her first love stirs old feelings

Brought to you through collaboration between Te Atatū Peninsula Library | Te Atatū Pātaka Kōrero and Corban Estate Arts Centre for Auckland Pride Festival 2026

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