Day One Shorts

Day One ShortsDay One Shorts

Day One Shorts is a series of short films by emerging rangatahi filmmakers from across Aotearoa. These shorts explore cultural, social and political issues by taking story risks, pushing the envelope, and looking to the future.
Short Form
Stream only in New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Islands

Made with the support of NZ on Air and Te Māngai Paho

2025
2024

Episode 1

Maysa

PG
One afternoon while waiting for her Mother to visit, Maysa revisits early childhood memories of coming to New Zealand which help her connect with her stoic Middle Eastern mother.

Episode 2

Devil in the Gat

16
Desperate for his big break, an aspiring musician discovers a forgotten, musical icon at a nightclub who may hold the key to his dreams—but the answers come with a heavy cost.

Episode 3

Gloss Finish

PG
A person with sweaty hands searches for a dance partner who, like them, bears the clammy burden of a gloss finish.

Episode 4

Ata Pūao

M
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.

Episode 5

O Alofa Nei, O Alofa Nā

PG
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.

Episode 6

Fearlessli

PG
After her gender identity was denied in her homeland, Lee Li, a transgender asylum seeker, was forced to leave her country, family, and language to embark on a journey toward belonging, freedom, and self-empowerment.

Episode 7

Frozen: My Eggs and Me

PG
Single and approaching a mid-thirties birthday, Shamin, a first generation New Zealander, confronts the question she’s long been avoiding: should she freeze her eggs

Episode 8

Monster and Me

G
Join the fluffy gentle giant, Motmot, as he navigates life through the bleak world of Strugart until one day his life is drastically turned upside down by an unknown creature, a human boy.

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