Jarod Rawiri

Colonial Combat takes a laugh at our unofficial NZ colonial history. It's a dog eat dog world, where colourful characters compete inside and outside of the ring.

Short-film set in pre-colonial Aotearoa about a young woman's coming of age.

Kevin works in a sardine factory but dreams of sailing the high seas. Upon hearing the call of the wild he begins to build a fantastical boat in his backyard, much to the disdain of his family and friends.

Laundry is a character-driven joyful comedy about a happily married but frustrated woman, struggling to find intimacy due to the demands of raising a family.

Hope and Wire is a dramatized edition of what happened to a group of New Zealanders after the 2010 Christchurch earthquakes telling the "real story". They didn't need any extra drama, Christchurch survivors know that.

When the divorced parents of 8-year-old Jacob insist on dressing him in ridiculous clothes to spite each other, he resorts to desperate fashion measures to assert his identity.

This docudrama follows an imaginary news reporter who travels back in time to cover the days leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi’s 6 February 1840 signing. The production drops the usual solemnity surrounding Aotearoa’s founding document, and uses humour and asides to camera to evoke the chaos and motives behind its signing. Written by Gavin Strawhan, with Witi Ihimaera, What Really Happened screened on TVNZ for Waitangi Day 2011. Peter Burger won Best Director - Drama/Comedy at the 2011 Aotearoa TV Awards for his work. (from nzonscreen.com)

Six Māori Battalion soldiers camped in Italian ruins wait for night to fall. In the silence, the bros-in-arms distract themselves with jokes. A tohu (sign) brings them back to reality, and they gather to say a karakia before returning to the fray. Director Taika Waititi describes the soldiers as young men with "a special bond, strengthened by their character, their culture and each other." Shot in the rubble of the old Wellington Hospital, Tama Tū won international acclaim. Invited to over 40 international festivals, its many awards included honourable mentions at Sundance and Berlin.

One summer’s day, Jayde and Wiremu tag along with their older siblings on a trip to a local swimming hole; young passions ignite by the Rotorua hot pool. Later, tragedy occurs and Jayde faces lost innocence and the ritual of tangi while bearing a secret.