WBS WAIRARAPA 50 HOUR FILM PROJECT COMMUNITY SCREENING

Date: Saturday 18 October, 2025

Venue: The Screening Room, Masterton

After a wild weekend of creativity, chaos, and caffeine, seven Wairarapa filmmaking teams emerged triumphant — and audiences had the chance to see what they created!

The WBS Wairarapa 50 Hour Film Project Community Screening brought the top short films from our 2025 competition to the big screen at The Screening Room, Masterton.

Audiences laughed, gasped, and marvelled at what could be achieved in just 50 hours with a phone, a story, and a brilliant local team. The cinema was filled with cheers for our home-grown storytellers — they truly earned it.

We were enormously grateful for the generous sponsorship from WBS.

WBS WAIRARAPA 50 HOUR FILM PROJECT AWARDS NIGHT

Date: Sunday 8 June, 2025
Venue: The Screening Room, Masterton

The Top 7 Finalists were invited to the Awards Night ceremony, where winners were announced after all films had been screened.

Judges:

• Mark Ordesky – Executive Producer, The Lord of the Rings films

• Maria Fernanda Miño – Filmmaker and Film Lecturer, Victoria University, Wellington

• Celia Jaspers – TV Director, Producer, and Editor

Strand: Big Nights: Awards Night 2025

NEEVER FORGOTTEN: THE MARINES OF MASTERTON (2025)

Documentary | M | 106 minutes
Director: Mark Pacey
Date: 24 - 25 May and 7 June 2025
Venue: Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton

The United States Marine Corps’ 3rd Defense Battalion were stationed at Solway Showgrounds in 1943. Never Forgotten: The Marines of Masterton explored the impact of the Marines’ visit, their relationships with the local community, their lasting legacy, and the journey to constructing a memorial in their honour. Written and directed by local historian Mark Pacey, the film had its world premiere at the Wairarapa Film Festival in May 2025.

Strand: Big Nights: World Premiere

O TAMAITI + OUT OF THE BLUE (2006)

Date: Sunday 25 May, 2025
Venue: Regent 3 Cinema, Masterton

O Tamaiti (1996)
Director: Sima Urale
The award-winning story of a young boy who played guardian and protector to his siblings, though even all his efforts could not prevent the death of the new baby.

Out of the Blue (2006)
Director: Robert Sarkies
Drama, Crime, True Crime | 102 min | R15
On 13 November 1990, in the small New Zealand seaside town of Aramoana, local man David Gray took a high-powered automatic weapon and shot dead 13 people. At the time, it was the worst mass murder in New Zealand’s history. Out of the Blue is a gripping and powerful story of courage and survival.

Special Guests: Annie Collins and Rob Sarkies
Strand: Annie Collins Retrospective

A SENSE OF PLACE:
A MASTERCLASS WITH ROB SARKIES

Date: Sunday 25 May, 2025
VENUE: Aratoi, 12 Bruce Street, Masterton

A Sense of Place explored how landscape and community shaped narrative, turning location into a dynamic character. Rob Sarkies traced this approach from his cult debut Scarfies (set in university-town Dunedin) through Out of the Blue(Aramoana/Dunedin) to Pike River (Greymouth).

Participants learned about:

• Location as Character: Techniques for making setting influence mood, theme, and character arcs.

• Community Collaboration: Building trust with local participants.

• Visual Storytelling: Crafting shots that evoke a sense of place.

Strand: A Sense of Place

WBS WAIRARAPA 50 HOUR FILM PROJECT

Dates: Thursday 22 May – Sunday 8 June
Venue: The Screening Room, Masterton
Judges: Mark Ordesky, Fernanda Minos, Celia Jaspers

Teams had just 50 hours to write, shoot, edit, and submit a short film for the WBS Wairarapa 50 Hour Film Project — a weekend of creative intensity, collaboration, and storytelling.

Dates and Timelines:

• Thursday 22 May, 5pm – Entry form completed and $50 deposit received

• Friday 23 May, 5:30pm – Film Briefing: at least two team members attended The Screening Room, Masterton to receive their props, genre, and competition briefing

• Sunday 25 May, 8pm – Online submission deadline

• Monday 2 June, 5pm – Announcement of the top seven teams

• Sunday 8 June, 5:30pm – Awards Ceremony at The Screening Room, Masterton

Strand: Lights! Camera! Action!

THE NEGLECTED MIRACLE (1985)

Documentary | G | 106 minutes
Director & Screenwriter: Barry Barclay
Date: 21 and 22 May 2025
Venue: Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton

Indigenous farmers from Peru, Nicaragua, Italy, France, Australia, and Aotearoa New Zealand shared their deep connection to the land and the seeds they had carefully cultivated for generations. Meanwhile, global corporations sought to claim ownership of these seeds through intellectual property rights.

Recently restored and digitised by the Film Preservation team at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, The Neglected Miraclereturned to the big screen in honour of its 40th anniversary. Film Talks was proud to be the first festival to present this powerful and timely work in its newly restored form.

Strand: Big Nights: Opening Night

SCARFIES (1999)

Comedy | M | 95 minutes
Director & Co-Screenwriter: Rob Sarkies
Date: 21 and 23 May 2025
Venue: Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton

Five Dunedin flatmates get more than they bargained for when they discover a cannabis crop growing in the basement of their student rental. At first, it's a welcome surprise—but when the original owner comes to reclaim it, things take a dark and unexpected turn.

A darkly comic Kiwi cult classic, Scarfies blends student flatting culture, crime, and moral dilemmas into a uniquely New Zealand story full of tension, humour, and grit.

Proud to celebrate Rob Sarkies' Scarfies 26 years after its release. Audiences enjoyed revisiting this cult New Zealand classic on the big screen, where its sharp humour, 1990s spirit, and Dunedin energy came vividly back to life.

Strand: Schools in Cinemas

CINEMA WALK & FILM SCREENING with MARK PACEY and JANE ROSS

Venue: We start our guided walk outside Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton

Sunday 17 November, 2024

Join us for a guided Cinema Walk along Queen Street, Masterton. Learn the history of our local cinemas and theatres, followed by a special screening at Aratoi. Masterton has a long rich history of cinema that dates back to the 1890s. 

Join Mark Pacey (Wairarapa Archive) and Jane Ross (Wairarapa Film Festival) for this guided walk to discover the stories behind our stage and screen buildings, the people who performed in them, and the films that were screened. 

We conclude our walk at Aratoi where you can enjoy a free archival film screening, courtesy of our friends at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. 

This event is part of the Wairarapa Walking Festival and Wellington Heritage Festival. 

IMPROV ACTING MASTERCLASS with VINCENT WARD

Venue: Studio 73, Main Street, Greytown

Friday 25 October 2024 

Acclaimed NZ filmmaker Vincent Ward presents a Masterclass about acting for film, including how to keep the performance alive and develop connectedness with strangers.

You will call on your acting experiences on stage or screen to develop your improvisation technique.

WET PLATE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP with BRIAN SCADDEN

Venue: Brass & Glass Photographic Alchemy

Thursday 24, Friday 25 and Saturday 26 October 2024

Brian Scadden is a Wairarapa-based renowned photographer who specialises in authentic wet-plate and tin-type photography.

Join Brian and Jane Scadden for this informative and hands-on workshop and learn about authentic Victorian heritage photography. Come away from this workshop with your portrait to keep as a memory of this unique experience!

MA OLSEN (1977) & IN SPRING ONE PLANTS ALONE (1981)

Venue: Circus Cinema, Martinborough

Saturday 26 October, 3.00pm - 4:30pm

G | Documentaries | 60 minutes 
1 Ma Olsen by Vincent Ward
2. In Spring One Plants Alone by Vincent War

See the films and meet the filmmaker! 

Vincent Ward will be providing an introduction to these key early works in his film canon, and hold an Q&A session after the screening.

CINEMATOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS
with DERRICK SIMS

Venue: Ventana Creative Collective,

7 Kitchener Street, Martinborough

Saturday 27 October, 1pm - 2:30pm 

Derrick Sims is an Arkansas-born, Wairarapa-based filmmaker with nearly two decades experience as DOP, Camera Operator, Editor, and Colourist on features, shorts, commercials, and music videos across North America, Europe, and New Zealand.

Join Derrick for this 'hands-on' Masterclass and learn valuable camera techniques.

WAIRARAPA FRESH SHORTS 2024

Poetry, Drama, Documentary Shorts | 45 minutes

Venue: Circus Cinema,

34 Jellicoe Street, Martinborough

Sunday 28 October, 3pm - 4:30pm

We’ve curated a collection of stellar short films made by talented local filmmakers from the Wairarapa and Greater Wellington region:

Butterfly by Alfio Leotta
Through A Glass, Lightly by Derrick Sims
The Generation Gardener by Luke Ross
Ways To See by Jessica Sanderson

See the films and meet the filmmakers! 

RANGATAHI FILMMAKING WORKSHOP

Venue: Kuranui College

Thursday 23 and Friday 24 May, 9am - 3pm

Secondary school filmmaking workshop facilitated by Chris Widdup of Day One Hāpai te Haeata.

WET PLATE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

Venue: Brass & Glass Photographic Alchemy

Thursday 23 and Friday 24 May, 9am - 12pm

Secondary school wet plate photography workshop facilitated by Brian Scadden.

SHORT FILM FUNDING SEMINAR

Venue: Carterton Events Centre

Thursday 23 May, 1.15pm - 2:45pm

Film funding and talent development seminar presented by Dale Corlett, Head of Talent Development, New Zealand Film Commission.

MARVELLOUS MYSTERY MOVIE (2016)

Venue: Masterton District Library

Thursday 23 May, 4pm - 6pm

PG | Adventure, Family Fantasy | 107 minutes

An orphaned little girl befriends a benevolent compassionate giant who takes her to Giant Country. Here they attempt to stop the scary man-eating giants, who are invading the human world.

Our Marvellous Mystery Movie for 2024 was James and the Giant Peach; starring a 'giant of a funny man' Jemaine Clement. 

MA OLSEN (1977)

G | Documentary | 15 minutes

Director: Vincent Ward

Dates: Thursday 23 and Friday 24 May, and Saturday 1 June 2024

A documentary about a remarkable elderly woman living in the country, outside Greytown. With a great love of animals and an intuitive understanding of their health, she lives with numerous cats, hens, roosters, sheep, and others. – Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Ma Olsen is the earliest surviving film by Vincent Ward. A lost and forgotten film that has recently been restored and digitised by the Film Preservation team at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Ma Olsen will have its first ever cinema screening at the Wairarapa Film Festival 2024!

IN SPRING ONE PLANTS ALONE (1980)

G | Documentary | 45 minutes

Director: Vincent Ward

Dates: Thursday 23 and Friday 24 May, and Saturday 1 June, 2024.

An aged woman lives with her fully grown and wholly dependent son.

"This Vincent Ward film is a rare view of an enclosed world where an 84-year-old woman, alone, is 'The Burdened One'. Filmed over a period of one and a half years, this emerges as a haunting and powerful portrayal of their life together, a life of ritual and of their survival."
- NZFC

“A thoroughly devastating documentary on 82 year old Maori woman’s struggle for survival.” - LOS ANGELES TIMES

Film courtesy of Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission

TANGATA WHENUA (1974)

G | Documentaries

Director: Barry Barclay (Ngāti Apa)

Episode 1: The Spirits and the Times Will Teach (53 minutes)

Dates: Friday 24 and Saturday 25 May, 2024

The first programme in the landmark six-episode television series, "TANGATA WHENUA. The People Of The Land". 
- Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Episode 5: Tūrangawaewae, A Place To Stand (46 minutes)

Tūrangawaewae, A Place to Stand follows the establishment of a new urban marae (Maraeroa) in Porirua, while also examining the past reality of life in the rural communities of Tokomaru Bay and Waimā Valley. 
- TVNZ

RAIN OF THE CHILDREN (2008)

M | Violence & offensive language | Documentary Drama | 102 minutes

Director: Vincent Ward

Date: Friday 24 May, 2024

A woman walks between the worlds of the living and the dead in search of her lost children.  

Vincent Ward weaves drama with documentary to unravel the extraordinary story of Puhi, the Tuhoe woman who welcomed the young filmmaker into her home in 1978. Ward made the observational film In Spring One Plants Alone about Puhi’s day-to-day life in the remote Urewera Ranges. By then almost 80, she was obsessively caring for her schizophrenic adult son Niki, whose violent fits terrified her. In this new cinema feature Ward sets out to unravel the mystery that has haunted him for 30 years: Who was Puhi?

Film courtesy of Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission

THROUGH A GLASS, LIGHTLY (2024)

G | Documentary | 8 mins

Director: Derrick Sims

We are very excited to present this new release short documentary, which has been made especially for the Wairarapa Film Festival 2024. 

Dates: Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 May, 2024

Through a Glass, Lightly is about local wet plate and tin-type photographer Brian Scadden - a portrait of his life, thoughts, and ideas. 

We are truly grateful for the generous support from our local film funders at both the Masterton Arts Fund and the Carterton Creative Communities.

JOS. The Forgotten Photographer Who Saved a Town (2023) 

G | Documentary | 46 mins

Director: Dave Kwant

Dates: Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 May, 2024

For nearly 100 years the name Jos Divis was missing from histories of New Zealand photography. Now a wrong is being righted. Some call him the ‘inventor of the selfie’. A street photographer ahead of his time he pioneered techniques to capture images of ordinary people and their working lives in a way no one else could.

MASTERCLASS | VINCENT WARD

Venue: Aratoi Meeting Room

Date: Sunday 26 May, 10:15am - 11:15am

With over four decades of local and international filmmaking experience, Ward's Masterclass will focus on resilience and the importance of visual storytelling.

MASTERCLASS | DERRICK SIMS

Venue: Aratoi Meeting Room

Date: Sunday 26 May, 11:30am - 12:30pm

Filmmaker Derrick Sims has over two decades of experience as a cinematographer. Learn valuable camera techniques with this 'hands on' Masterclass.

A STATE OF SIEGE (1978)

PG | Drama | 52 minutes

Director: Vincent Ward

Venue: Wesley Wing, Aratoi, Masterton

Date: Sunday 26 May, 2024

Adapted from a novel by Janet Frame, Vincent Ward's much acclaimed short was made while he was still a student at Ilam School of Fine Arts.

Malfred Signal leaves her life of stifling gentility, (as an art teacher in a South Island private girls school), and decides to live out her dream – painting alone in the remote North. One terrifying night, beset by a prowler, but confronting only her own image at every step, she relives her past. – NZFC

“Ward creates more horror in this low budget movie with his play of light and shadow than Stanley Kubrick was able to create in the whole of The Shining.” - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Film courtesy of Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission

INHALE | EXHALE
Artist Talk with Vincent Ward

Venue: Te Hūpenui Greytown Gallery

Date:  Sunday 26 May, 2024

"Enter a world where the boundaries of paint, motion + photography collide... 

Join us in conversation with interdisciplinary painter and filmmaker Vincent Ward as he shares stories about his experiences and vision for Inhale | Exhale. 

Inhale | Exhale is high-quality large-format art book featuring the transformative and moving works of contemporary artist and filmmaker Vincent Ward.

The 180-page publication explores his distinctive fusion of film, photography and paint.

Inhale | Exhale includes essays by curators and respected writers Andrew Clifford and Roger Horrocks.

WAIRARAPA FRESH SHORTS 2023

G | Documentaries, Drama, Family Films

Venue: Circus Cinema, 

34 Jellicoe Street, Martinborough

Saturday 28 October, 2023

We’ve curated a collection of stellar short films made by talented local filmmakers from the Wairarapa and Greater Wellington region:

A Girl Called Elvis by Alfio Leotta
The Polycees by Celia Jaspers
Follow The Light by Cameron Madams
The Reapers by Derrick Sims

See the films and meet the filmmakers! 

TE RUA (1991)

PG | 107 m | Drama

Director: Barry Barclay (Ngāti Apa)

Date: Sunday 28 May, 2023

Special Guest: Waka Attewell

A hundred years after the theft from New Zealand of three irreplaceable tribal carvings, two Maori, Rewi and Peter, decide it's time for ancient grievances to be put right. Both men are in Berlin where the carvings are stored in a museum. Plans go awry when a group that Peter has assembled breaks into the museum.Written and directed by groundbreaking local filmmaker, Barry Barclay (Ngāti Apa).

Film courtesy of Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission. 

TURANGAWAEWAE (2003)

PG | Drama | 13 m

Director: Peter Burger (Ngāi Tahu, Rangitāne)

Date: Sunday 28 May, 2023

Special Guest: Waka Attewell

Tiare (a koro, or old man), a Vietnam war veteran, lives homeless, wandering the city, collecting bits and pieces in his plastic bags. His daughter brings her own daughter to visit and tries yet again to persuade him to return to their ancestral home. He does not wish to go there. Featuring the creative talents of local composer and muscian Warren Maxwell (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Te Rangi).

Film courtesy of Aotearoa New Zealand Film Heritage Trust and Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission.

SHUTEYE (2022)

M | Psychological Drama | 91 m

Director: Tom Levesque

Venue: Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton

Dates: Saturday 27 May, 2023

Special Guests: Celia Jaspers and Michael Stephens

To cure their insomnia, a social outcast befriends an ASMR streamer where the lines between friendship and obsession become blurred.

Shut Eye was supported by local film producer Celia Jaspers with legal Counsel offered by Michael Stephens.

SAVIOUR (2022)

M | Psychological Thriller | 20 m

Director: Alistair MacDonald

Venue: Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton

Date: Saturday 27 May, 2023

Special Guest: Kieran Charnock

A troubled missionary, led by a rough Pākehā guide, treks through the forest of 1820s Aotearoa. On a journey to deliver a musket to a distant leader, they are surprised by the appearance of a young Māori man who proclaims he’s been sent to guide them. Featuring the creative talents of local actor Kieran Charnock.

LEARNING FAST (1980)

Documentary | 60 m

Director: Dame Gaylene Preston

Venue: Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton

Date: Saturday 27 May, 2023

Special Guests: Dame Gaylene Preston, Lani Treur, Joseph Murray, and Ian Pryor

Filmed over a two year period, it follows seven school leavers from Masterton's Mākoura College as they attempt to navigate the ins and outs of being an adult; finding work, shipping off to university, or facing pressures from parents to make the 'right decision', as they await their exam results.

Learning Fast is supplied courtesy of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.