Kainga
Directors: Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, Nahyeon Lee, Angeline Loo, Hash Perambalam, Asuka Sylvie, Yamin Tun, Julie Zhu
Screenwriters: Shreya Gejji, Ghazaleh Golbakhsh,
Mei-Lin Hansen, Nahyeon Lee, Angeline Loo, Mia Maramara, Hash Perambalam, Asuka Sylvie
Producers: Shuchi Kothari, Kiel McNaughton, Kerry Warkia
DoP: Drew Sturge
Editor: Carly Turner
Cast: Eliana Hwang, Masoumeh Hesam Mahmoudinezhad Dharshi Ponnampalam, Patricia Senocbit, Sneha Shetty, Izumi Sugihara, Mya Williamson, Katlyn Wong
2022 | Japanese, Cantonese, English, Tagalog, Persian | 87 Mins | Colour
This anthology brings together underrepresented Asian filmmakers to craft eight unique stories chronicling the diverse, ever-changing, yet familiar experiences of Asians trying to make Aotearoa New Zealand their home through five decades. Viewers are invited into the homes and workplaces of eight different Asian women – from an Indian daughter and a Japanese mother, to a Filipina nurse and an Iranian wife – who have sought to put down roots in the land known as Aotearoa.
Ghazaleh Golbakhsh is an Iranian-New Zealand writer, filmmake r and Fulbri ght s chol a r ba s ed in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland. She has made various award-winning short films and her writing has appeared in publications like The Spinoff and Villainesse.
Asuka Sylvie is a writer/director from New Zealand. She studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, graduating in Film and Television. Her shorts Last Summer (2017) Lake (2014) and Pinion (2010) have screened at festivals such as Melbourne, Palm Springs and Shanghai.
Julie was born in Xi’an, China and grew up in Aotearoa. Currently she freelances as a filmmaker and photographer based in Tamaki Makaurau. As a storyteller she is particularly interested in championing marginalised voices and stories.
Nahyeon is a filmmaker based in Tamaki Makaurau with Korean heritage who strives to champion stories from minority perspectives. She is a writer for PAT 2020’s Fresh Off the Page initiative and has previously received mentorship for the New Asian Writers initiative in 2018.
Writer/director Yamin Tun draws on her experience as a refugee and immigrant to make films that ‘describe immense societal change’. Born in Burma, Tun graduated from Oxford. One of her shorts, ‘Wait’ (2016), was the first Mandarin language film to win Best Short at the NZIFF.
Angeline Loo is known for ‘Ghost in the Shell’ (2017), ‘My Wedding and Other Secrets’ (2011) and Kainga (2022)
Hash Perambalam – Born and raised on Auckland’s North Shore, Hash Perambalam made her first short film ‘Not Like Her’ as part of a year long Masters thesis in Screen Production at the University of Auckland. It was premiered at the 2015 New Zealand International Film Festival’s Short film Competition.
