The poster and trailer for We Were Dangerous has been unveiled ahead of its nationwide cinema release on Thursday 22nd August.
Following its world premiere in Austin, Texas at South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in March 2024, where it was awarded the Special Jury Award for Filmmaking in the Narrative Feature Competition, We Were Dangerous will also open the NZ International Film Festival 2024.
Indiewire said it was “A hopeful – sometimes borderline exuberant – rallying cry for girls to stick together across the various divides that people use to disempower them.”
Directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu Ngāpuhi and Te Arawa (Waru, Ani), We Were Dangerous is written by cartoonist and writer Maddie Dai (Ministry of Jingle), whose work features in The New Yorker, with additional writing from Stewart-Te Whiu.
The film tells the fictional story of Nellie (Erana James), Lou (Nathalie Morris) and Daisy (Manaia Hall) who attend an institution for delinquent girls on an isolated island. The trio rail against the system, finding strength in their friendship. But this is challenged when the school’s matron (Rima Te Wiata) divides them.
Director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu said, “The story is set in 1950s New Zealand, in a world where, ridiculously, teenage girls were seen as a risk to society. It’s a film that celebrates the joy and power of female friendships.”
Produced for Piki Films (Jojo Rabbit, The Breaker Upperers, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) by Morgan Waru and Polly Fryer; Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi, Bill Way, Elliott Whitton and Emily Gotto as Executive Producers. We Were Dangerous was shot on location in the South Island of New Zealand. Filming on Ōtamahua Island was done with the support of Te Hapū o Ngāti Wheke.
We Were Dangerous was made with investment from the New Zealand Film Commission, the New Zealand Government’s Screen Production Grant, Fit Via Vi, Screen CanterburyNZ, Department of Post, Native Audio, and Kiwibank, the film will be distributed in New Zealand by Madman and Piki Films, and by Madman in Australia.
We Were Dangerous will open the 2024 Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival in Wellington on Wednesday 31 July and Auckland on Wednesday 7 August, and go on to screen at other festival locations throughout the country ahead of its release in cinemas nationwide on Thursday 22 August.
