Play Stuff

A young Kiwi fed up with dating falls in love with a two-dimensional character from his favourite anime show. Written and directed by Abigail Egden, produced by Gemma Knight.

When a seven-year-old new migrant is ostracised at school for his homeland-style lunches, he chooses to eat alone - and starts to resent his mother's cooking. Written and directed by Bala Murali Shingade, produced by Ankita Singh.

Kicking off in an inner city laundromat, this K' Rd Story travels strange places indeed. An unassuming man is going about the business of getting some clothes washed, when he realises that his clothes have disappeared mid cycle.

This morbidly funny short, made by students of Auckland's Media Design School, depicts the demise of 26 alphabetical and animated animals at the hands of nature's greatest enemy - the human. The film won acclaim at festivals worldwide.

Anna is a young woman on the Autism spectrum. When someone takes her seat on the bus, she must cope with this unexpected change in her routine.

This episode is billed as a "love story that's not as simple as boy meets girl". Aroha begins with Jade being stood up at a bar on the iconic strip, before being consoled by a bartender.

Isabelle is determined not to spend her 65th birthday alone. She invites herself into the home of a neighbour, a struggling mum in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

A young New Zealander and her mother live with grief in a toxic environment - can the river and their relationship be saved?

Jamie unexpectedly finds herself being the live-in nurse for the person she despises most – her father. Can the pop hits of the 90s help her overcome the betrayal from her past?

A light take on unfortunate circumstances, Broke offers the simple story of a not-so-simple mission to buy milk. Armed with only the meagre change he can scrape from his messy apartment, Billy is affronted by a homeless man asking for spare coins.

A woman running an Auckland laundromat finds herself accosted by a drug addict. A frustrated customer struggles with a machine that is out of order and ruining her expensive clothes. Somewhere across the city police are on their way to a drug bust.

Das Tub kickstarted an award-winning run of CGI short films for Media Design School students working under their 3D animation tutor James Cunningham. Part live-action, part CGI, its tale of a German U-boat crew pays homage to classic Das Boot.

An intimate insight into the perspectives of New Zealanders who have lived with disordered eating.

A girl is waiting for her bus in suburbia when a boy comes along. An unconventional romance unfolds as the girl tries to get his attention.

Armed with his trusty ray gun and protected by his pith helmet, Lord Broadforce's exotic species search on an alien planet is going swimmingly - until the dame gets colonial angst.

A grieving suburban teenage girl attempts to escape her family by allowing herself to be drawn into a charismatic church.

When a city made entirely from cardboard catches fire it is up to the local fire chief and his brave deputies to save Cardboard City and its citizens from impending doom.

This live-action CGI short attempts to find the answer as to why UFO sightings have been in decline recently. The film was made by students in the 3D Productions course that director James Cunningham teaches at Media Design School.

Flo's love for her new home is tested when her papa changes the menu at his traditional Chinese restaurant.

A teenage outcast discovers the cast on her broken arm can be a way to make new friends.

After overhearing a parental argument which shows no signs of ending, a young boy decides to wander out onto the streets. Soon he is caught up in the K Road nightlife, clutching his sushi.

This 2016 short film follows a young woman (Florence Noble, from The Jaquie Brown Diaries) as she deals with debilitating panic attacks. On a road trip to a beach party, a friend (Jordan Vaha’akolo) sympathises with her struggles.

A solo father is driven by his dark past to find an alternative way of parenting and discovers an answer in his Māori roots.

A happily married woman (Aidee Walker), with a busy family life, struggles to find an intimate moment with her partner. She discovers orgasmic pleasure in an unlikely place.

In the wake of a painful break up a group of friends band together to help the former couple move out of their old room.

This Simmonds Brothers short film tells tells the real-life story of a kindergarten's beloved but ill-fated rooster. The early-rising cockerel's waking up of the neighbourhood sees complaints made to the council. The 2001 shooting made national news.

Lala Rolls wrote and directed this short film, which gives a view of family life from a child's perspective. A young girl is disturbed from sleep by the sound of adults arguing. She tries to shut out this grown-up world by pretending to be "adult".

On an evening stroll in 1996, two elderly Paekakariki twins suddenly encountered a ropey bull. Using an audio recording in which Pearl Mills retells the experience, the Simmonds Brothers utilise animation to bring the whole homely tale to life.

Jane Sherning Warren's satirical portrait of the artist as a young woman was one of a series of short films exploring life on the colourful K Road strip.

Grace must prove to the world that her pray-away-the-gay dog therapy works by trying to "cure" Fergis the pug of his homosexuality.

In this episode, Dan and Dwayne are 'two lovable hustlers with an entrepreneurial spirit trying to scratch a living on the fringes of K Road'. The pair try to gain entry to the Las Vegas strip club, set up a pop-up tinny shop, and find a girlfriend

Shoes is a refugee's story told with rhythm and shoes. A woman seeking shelter in a new country arrives at a railway station troubled by turbulent thoughts of her past.

As history trickles down the bloodlines and onto the production line, spoken word poem Blackbird speaks to the struggles of the minimum wage labour. Written by Lastman Sooula and Onehou Strickland and directed by Onehou Strickland.

A trio of mysteriously bloody and bruised women order tea in a cafe in Auckland's St Kevin's Arcade. The sugar debate gets a K Road twist as they talk boobs, revenge porn, and wonder if the sugar bowl has drugs hidden in it.

In this 2012 short film, young Samoan Kiwi Suni (Beulah Koale) has to choose between his family - and its traditional values - and gang life. His wayward cousin pressures him towards the gang. Suni Man is inspired by a true story.

In the midst of her first period, a quiet resilient young girl must choose between a surprise for her beloved little brother or buying pads for herself. Written by Ruby Solly and Ashley Williams. Directed by Ashley Williams and produced by Isaac Te

In this dark comedy, Con decides that the perfect way to cheer up her depressed and bedridden partner Bella is to call a clairvoyant phone line.

During a fraught car trip, Tama, a deaf Maori boy, must rise up to confront his family. The story culminates in an electrifying silent performance of the haka.

A New Zealand-born Samoan professional rugby player reflects on what truly shaped him to be the man and father he is today while living on the other side of the world with his young family.

Waking up with a vicious hangover after a big night out, Seff wanders Karangahape Road in need of keys to get into his house. Seeking only his flatmate and a flat white, Seff finds himself harassed by all about a lewd act he has no memory of.

Biscuits dance, food flies, dead chickens walk ... come closing time, the shelves of a dairy come to life. Four years in the making, this showcase of stop motion effects is based loosely on a classic poem by Goethe.

Finn, desperate to escape his nightmarish school disco, finds an unlikely safe-haven in the boys' bathroom. When confronted with harsh reality he is forced to make a heart-breaking sacrifice. Directed by Conor Bowden, produced by Liv McClymont.

Eight-year-old Jesse is stuck in a tiny caravan with his grief stricken father, until his accidental friendship with a V8-driving transsexual unlocks the means for their liberation.

The adage that in a long-term relationship things can get a little like clockwork is given a twist in Time for Change. A simmering feud between two wooden figurines on the town clock of an Austrian village, comes to a head with unexpected results.

One evening Alisi climbs a huge tree and won’t come down. As night falls and we discover her secret, Alisi must decide whether to bow to tradition or find a new path - with or without her family.

Our aunties, mothers, grandmothers - our tinā. The women around us: they raise us, they nurture us, they teach us, they care for us and care for each other.

This award winning short film tells the story of a Chinese migrant family in 1980s New Zealand that is at the point of breaking apart.