Nau mai ki Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival. Welcome to Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival

Launched in 2021, Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival celebrates local film, art, and storytelling that connect people with their place. Through curated screenings, workshops, masterclasses, and our filmmaking competition, we bring communities together through the power of visual storytelling and creative expression. We honour the storytellers who have shaped Aotearoa’s cinematic landscape and celebrate the emerging voices carrying that legacy forward.

Wairarapa has been home to acclaimed filmmakers, artists, and storytellers, including Ramai Hayward MNZM (Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāi Tahu), Vincent Ward ONZM, Barry Barclay (Ngāti Apa), Jemaine Clement (Ngāti Kahungunu), Annie Collins, Jamie Selkirk, Annie Goldson (ONZM), Sir Peter Jackson, and James Cameron. Join us as we celebrate the region’s creative legacy and the vibrant future of film and storytelling in our region. 

Each year, our main Autumn Programme unfolds across April and May, bringing together a rich programme of film, storytelling and creative events across the Wairarapa. Our Spring Sessions follow in October and November with a programme of encore screenings, new releases and special events, offering another opportunity to come together and celebrate the magic of film.

Our Story

Vincent Ward ONZM | Festival Patron

  • "I am incredibly impressed by the initiative of Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival to showcase both Wairarapa and Aotearoa New Zealand filmmakers for people living in the heartland. Our stories and images come from the heart and from the land: a reflection of where we have been; inspiration for what we might become."

    Annie Collins, Festival Patron

  • “I was blown away by the quality of Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival and the way it connects local filmmakers with the wider industry. The opportunities and connections I made through the festival have had a genuinely transformative impact on my journey as a young filmmaker."

    - Kate Twomey, filmmaker