NZ Web Fest, late submission deadline
2024-07-31
The tenth edition of NZ Web Fest runs in November.
Submissions for the 2024 edition are open, with deadlines on 31 May, 31 July and 31 August.
The fest accepts submissions of podcasts, short films, and web series, including pilots.

Misty Flicks Festival, final submission deadline
2024-08-01
Misty Flicks is a not-for-profit independent film festival held annually in the Central region of Aotearoa, New Zealand. The festival offers a wide-ranging programme of local and indigenous cinema. It aims to introduce and unite audiences to different voices and cultures through the power of storytelling.
Misty Flicks creates a platform to nurture the careers of tomorrow’s storytellers by providing educational opportunities and workshops. It makes film accessible to its people and creates a sense of community and connectedness through the arts by connecting filmmakers and audiences in discussions and seminars based on the principles of manaakitanga.
Early festival submissions close 1 May. The final submission deadline is 1 August. The festival runs 22-24 November.

Top of the South Film Festival, submission deadline
2024-08-05
The Top of the South Film Festival showcases great local and national short films of under 15 minutes running time. We’ve grown from a film festival that caters to a grassroots community of local filmmakers, to an event that filmmakers from the entire nation will want to attend.
One of our aims is to bring people together by providing an event were filmmakers can forge connections. So we invite filmmakers from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand to enter our Aotearoa Screening, while our Heartland Screenings continue to celebrate locally made film from the North of the South Island: Nelson, Marlborough, Tasman, Buller, Hurunui and Kaikōura.
Submissions open 1 May and close 5 August.

Seed Grants: applications close
2024-08-09 12:00 (Pacific/Auckland)
NZWG and New Zealand Film Commission are excited to announce that Seed & Seed Advanced is now open.
Seed & Seed Advanced are screenwriter-only feature film script development grants.
Seed Grants allow writers to be innovative, brilliant, and to create something they own. The writer is the rights holder, and not working with a producer in early development.
Seed is open to emerging writers who haven’t yet written and had a feature film produced.
The initiative offers 6 x Seed Grants of $10,000 – includes $2,500 for script consultation and 2 x Seed Advanced Grants of $12,500 – includes $2,500 for script development.

Whispers - campaign closes
2024-08-19
Emily, a grieving widow and mother, confronts her Spanish husband’s death, alongside her children and her supportive mother in law, Sara. As Emily struggles with grief, she is haunted by ghostly apparitions, chilling nightmares, and mysterious whispers, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Her ordeal intensifies upon encountering a stalker in a forest entrance, a moment that begins to unravel as the source of her terror.
This is a thriller short series born from passion, dedication, and the desire to offer a platform for aspiring talents. Welcoming individuals from all backgrounds can explore their potential alongside diverse professionals, also allow us to showcase the beautiful locations of New Zealand.
WATCH THIS VIDEO to see who are the people involved, and why make this project so unique and special.

A Tell-Tale Heart, campaign closing
2024-08-28
Gianni Ranzuglia’s short adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s gripping short story The Tell-Tale Heart.
This dark, intense and suspenseful tale follows the descent of a man into madness, as he becomes obsessed with the vulture-like eye of an old man he cares for. Driven by his paranoia and guilt, he ultimately commits a horrific act, only to find himself increasingly haunted by his own conscience, and the psychological torment that follows.
The Tell-Tale Heart is a gothic tragedy that explores themes of repressed guilt, paranoia, and the human capacity for self-deception. Our goal is to stay true to the original story while bringing a fresh visual interpretation that will resonate with contemporary audiences. The focal point of view being the self-deceiving, darkly twisted and menacing intensity of the young protagonist.

NZ Web Fest, final submission deadline
2024-08-31 08:00 - 17:00

Doc Edge Festival 2026 - Regular Submission Deadline
2025-12-15
NZ filmmakers — submissions for Doc Edge Festival 2026 are now open!
Doc Edge invites Aotearoa’s documentary community to submit films for the 21st edition of the festival. They are looking for powerful New Zealand stories across shorts and features, as well as immersive, from emerging voices to established creatives working in the factual and hybrid space.
Selected films will screen as part of New Zealand’s Oscar®-qualifying documentary festival, and top local awards include major cash prizes and Oscar® consideration for 2027.
🏆 Best NZ Feature: $10,000 cash prize + Oscar® consideration
🏆 Best NZ Short: $2,500 cash prize + Oscar® consideration
Submissions via FilmFreeway.
📅 Regular deadline: 15 December 2025
📅 Late deadline: 31 January 2026
Be part of Aotearoa’s leading documentary platform and showcase your work to local and international audiences.

Doc Edge Pitch 2026 - Early bird Submission Deadline
2026-01-16
Submissions are now open for Doc Edge Pitch 2026 — New Zealand’s premier platform for developing and showcasing new documentary projects.
Doc Edge is seeking compelling factual projects (shorts, features, and series) in development, production or rough-cut stage. Selected teams will pitch to international and local decision makers and receive mentoring, industry access, and networking opportunities during the festival.
Open to both NZ and international filmmakers.
📅 Early Bird deadline: 16 January 2026
📍 Pitching takes place during Doc Edge Festival 2026
🔗 Full details & application: https://docedge.nz/programme/industry/pitch/

Doc Edge Festival 2026 - Late Submission Deadline
2026-01-31
NZ filmmakers — submissions for Doc Edge Festival 2026 are now open!
Doc Edge invites Aotearoa’s documentary community to submit films for the 21st edition of the festival. They are looking for powerful New Zealand stories across shorts and features, as well as immersive, from emerging voices to established creatives working in the factual and hybrid space.
Selected films will screen as part of New Zealand’s Oscar®-qualifying documentary festival, and top local awards include major cash prizes and Oscar® consideration for 2027.
🏆 Best NZ Feature: $10,000 cash prize + Oscar® consideration
🏆 Best NZ Short: $2,500 cash prize + Oscar® consideration
Submissions via FilmFreeway.
📅 Late deadline: 31 January 2026
Be part of Aotearoa’s leading documentary platform and showcase your work to local and international audiences.

Doc Edge Festival 2026 - Extended Submission Deadline
2026-02-15
NZ filmmakers — submissions for Doc Edge Festival 2026 are now open!
Doc Edge invites Aotearoa’s documentary community to submit films for the 21st edition of the festival. They are looking for powerful New Zealand stories across shorts and features, as well as immersive, from emerging voices to established creatives working in the factual and hybrid space.
Selected films will screen as part of New Zealand’s Oscar®-qualifying documentary festival, and top local awards include major cash prizes and Oscar® consideration for 2027.
🏆 Best NZ Feature: $10,000 cash prize + Oscar® consideration
🏆 Best NZ Short: $2,500 cash prize + Oscar® consideration
Submissions via FilmFreeway.
📅 Extended deadline: 15 February 2026
Be part of Aotearoa’s leading documentary platform and showcase your work to local and international audiences.

2026 Vincent Burke Scholarship
2026-02-16 08:00 - 2026-03-23 17:00
Spada is proud to open nominations for the 2026 Vincent Burke Scholarship, which aims to support the next generation of New Zealand producers by providing an annual grant of$5,000 to assist the advancement of their projects, companies, or careers.
2026 marks the second year this scholarship is offered with the inaugural 2025 Vincent Burke Scholarship awarded to Joyce Wong.
In loving memory of her brother, Wendy Pringle generously bequeathed proceeds from Vincent’s estate to Spada to establish this Scholarship, dedicated to supporting emerging producers—a cause Vincent championed throughout his remarkable career.
Spada would also like to thank Vincent’s longtime colleague Laurie Clarke for his help in establishing this Scholarship.
Vincent Burke worked in the New Zealand screen industry for over 30 years and was noted for addressing social issues and stories from everyday life. His production company Top Shelf created many award-winning documentaries and factual series including ‘All About Eve’ (1991), ‘Cinema of Unease’ (1996) and the ambitious ‘Frontier of Dreams’ (2004). Vincent also had a love of drama, producing ‘Flight of the Albatross’ (1995) and co-producing ‘Predicament’ (2010). In more recent years he produced feature documentary ‘100 Men’ (2017) and was an executive producer on the first Tongan feature film ‘For My Father’s Kingdom’ (2019).
Vincent was widely respected as an “elder statesman” of our industry. As President of Spada during its days as the NZ Film & Video Training Board, he made a lasting impact. In 2012, Vincent was awarded the Spada/Databook Industry Champion Award in recognition of his remarkable career and his dedication to mentoring, mediating, and supporting the industry, its people, and their stories.
Vincent’s enduring legacy lives on through the opportunity created by the Vincent Burke Scholarship, which aims to empower the next generation of New Zealand screen producers.

Screen Canterbury Production Grant Applications Open
2026-02-18 08:00 - 17:00
$67,500 will be distributed to eligible productions by an independent advisory panel made up of established members of industry.
If you have any questions, please email welcome@screencanterbury.nz to organise a chat.
We have also kicked off work on a refreshed long-term strategy. I am looking forward to building on the good work done to date and discovering new opportunities to grow and support the screen sector and the wider creative industries to deliver economic impact.

Doc Edge Pitch 2026 - Regular Submission Deadline
2026-02-20
Submissions are open for Doc Edge Pitch 2026 — New Zealand’s premier platform for developing and showcasing new documentary projects.
Doc Edge is seeking compelling factual projects (shorts, features, and series) in development, production or rough-cut stage. Selected teams will pitch to international and local decision makers and receive mentoring, industry access, and networking opportunities during the festival.
Open to both NZ and international filmmakers.
📅 Regular deadline: 20 February 2026
📍 Pitching takes place during Doc Edge Festival 2026
🔗 Full details & application: https://docedge.nz/programme/industry/pitch/

Doc Edge Pitch 2026 – Late Submission Deadline
2026-03-29
Submissions are open for Doc Edge Pitch 2026 — New Zealand’s premier platform for developing and showcasing new documentary projects.
Doc Edge is seeking compelling factual projects (shorts, features, and series) in development, production or rough-cut stage. Selected teams will pitch to international and local decision makers and receive mentoring, industry access, and networking opportunities during the festival.
Open to both NZ and international filmmakers.
📅 Late deadline: 29 March 2026
📍 Pitching takes place during Doc Edge Festival 2026
🔗 Full details & application: https://docedge.nz/programme/industry/pitch/

VF 48Hours 2026
2026-07-31 08:00 - 2026-08-02 17:00
The Vista Foundation 48Hours is NZ’s largest guerrilla filmmaking competition! There is nothing quite like it. Over 10,000 short films have been produced in the 48Hours competition over the 22 years it has run.
Over 500 teams of filmmakers enter each year with just 48 hours to write, shoot and cut a film with a given genre and a collection of assigned elements. Filmmakers compete for awards in their regions, culminating in a grand final event where the national winner takes the title of Grand National Champion.
The Vista Foundation 48Hours aims to create a dynamic event that provides opportunities for emerging and established filmmakers to make short films in an environment that encourages innovation, creative risk-taking, and builds long term collaborations and community. We offer a screening opportunity and an enthusiastic inbuilt audience within the competition for teams to showcase their talent.
