Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival

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Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival

Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival celebrates local art, film, and stories that connect people with their place. www.waifilmfest.co.nz Kia ora!

We create opportunities for people to connect through storytelling. My name is Jane Ross and I love film. I created the Wairarapa Film Festival in 2020, with screening programmes curated for all three Wairarapa districts timed around the seasons:

Autumn programme - Masterton
Winter programme - Carterton
Spring programme - South Wairarapa

I have developed a film festival that celebrates local films and filmmakers.

10/10/2026

📚🎬 DO YOU LOVE BOOKS AS MUCH AS YOU LOVE FILMS?

What happens when a great book meets the big screen? What gets lost in the adaptation, what comes to life, and why do some stories work so beautifully in both forms?

I'm delighted to be launching FILM BOOK CLUB, with a new event at Hedley's Books in Masterton, hosted by me, Jane Ross, alongside Guy Somerset, former Books & Culture Editor of The New Zealand Listener.

Together, we'll explore the fascinating relationship between literature and cinema, through the books, filmmakers, adaptations and creative minds that bring stories to life.

Hedley's has put together some wonderful new film book collections, featuring everything from film history and biographies to memoirs, screen adaptations and books connected with films programmed by the Wairarapa Cinémathèque and Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival.

Whether you're a passionate reader, a film buff, or simply curious about the stories behind the stories, this is an evening to discover something new, share ideas and connect with fellow book and film lovers.

📅 Wednesday 21 October 2026
🕢 7.30pm
📍 Hedley's Books, Masterton
🎟️ $10, including refreshments

Come along, browse the books, enjoy a drink and join the conversation. I'd love to see you there!

👉 BOOK YOUR TICKET HERE: https://booksonline.co.nz/product/film-book-club-night-7-30pm-wed-21-oct/

03/10/2026

What happens when a great book becomes a great film?

And what happens when a great film sends you back to the book?

Join us for a Film Book Club evening at Hedley's Books, where two Wairarapa film and book obsessives will get together to talk about the relationship between page and screen.

Jane Ross from The Story Studio, founder of Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival and Wairarapa Cinémathèque, will be joined by Guy Somerset, much-esteemed reviewer of books, film and culture in New Zealand and abroad, and former Books & Culture Editor of The Listener.

They’ll talk about books and films they love, adaptations and the stories that travel between page and screen. They’ll also introduce the new Wairarapa Cinémathèque and Wairarapa Film Festival Book Collections at Hedley’s Books.

Wednesday 21 October 7.30pm
Hedley’s Books, Masterton
🎟 $10, including refreshments available from Hedley's Books

Hosted by Hedley’s Books in association with The Story Studio.

We'd love to see you there!

29/09/2026

🎬 TE WAIWHAKAATA WAIRARAPA FILM FESTIVAL 2026

7–8 & 14–15 NOVEMBER 2026

Save the dates! Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival returns this spring with storytelling, connection and community across the Wairarapa.

The Spring Sessions bring together encore screenings of popular autumn films alongside new work that has become available to screen, with special screenings, local filmmaking, filmmaker conversations, masterclasses, workshops and opportunities to come together around the big screen.

Film is the connector.

More films and events will be announced soon.

7–8 & 14–15 November 2026
Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival

19/08/2026

🎬 A THANK YOU TO THE MASTERTON CREATIVE COMMUNITIES SCHEME 🎬

A heartfelt thank you to the Masterton Creative Communities Scheme for supporting the Barry Barclay Retrospective: Wairarapa and Tangata Whenua Series, presented as part of Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival 2026.

The funding made a real difference to this project, particularly by supporting film preservation work and archival material. It helped us bring Barry Barclay’s work back to the big screen while contributing to the protection of an important part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s film history.

Barry Barclay (Ngāti Apa) was a pioneering filmmaker whose work centred Māori perspectives, identity, culture, history and place. It was a privilege to celebrate his contribution to New Zealand cinema and to share his films with Wairarapa audiences. We’ll also be bringing more of Barry’s work to audiences as part of our Spring Season later this year.

Community funding like this makes projects like these possible. It can have a lasting impact when it supports the preservation and sharing of stories that matter. ❤️🎬

17/08/2026

🎬 Filming in Featherston

Mark Pacey and I took a drive to Featherston recently, gathering images for his new short documentary, Lemon Squeezers and Walking Sticks: Treasures of the Featherston Heritage Museum

Mark’s film explores these treasures and the stories behind them, and I’m delighted that we’ll be presenting its world premiere as part of the Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival’s Spring Season.

📽️ Sunday 15 November 2026
📍 Featherston Heritage Museum
🕐 Screenings + Talk at 1pm, 2pm or 3pm
🎟️ Tickets just $5

Each screening will be followed by a conversation with Mark about making the film and the history behind the museum’s collection.

Presented in partnership with the Wellington Heritage Festival and the Featherston Heritage Festival.

16/08/2026

🎙️ Film Talks On Air tonight at 7pm on Arrow FM 92.7

Tonight I’m talking with my friend and colleague Chris Widdup, Executive Director of Day One Hāpai te Haeata.

Chris and Day One have been an incredibly important partner of Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival for the past five years, travelling from Tāmaki Makaurau to Wairarapa to work with our young and emerging filmmakers.

I absolutely love what Day One does: helping young people find the confidence, skills and opportunities to tell their own screen stories for a better tomorrow.

Tune in tonight to hear our conversation about Chris’s journey into the screen industry, the work of Day One, youth filmmaking, our Wairarapa connection and future plans.

📻 Listen tonight at 7pm on Arrow FM 92.7FM

And if you just can't wait until 7pm, the podcast is already available on the Arrow FM website. Just head to the podcasts and look for Film Talks On Air. All of my Film Talks podcasts are there to listen to whenever you like.

Would love you to have a listen. ❤️

15/08/2026

Kia ora, it's Jane here.

A special Sam Neill Tribute Weekend is coming to Masterton, with three very different films celebrating the extraordinary career of one of our most beloved and internationally acclaimed actors.

I'd love you to join us at Regent 3 Cinemas on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August. Tickets are available online through Humanitix: https://collections.humanitix.com/sam-neill-tribute-screenings

We'll see you there. 🥰🎬

26/07/2026

Kia ora, it's Jane here from Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival.

Thank you to everyone who follows us on our socials, and a very warm welcome to all our new followers.

While our main festival takes place each autumn, we're busy behind the scenes putting together our Spring Sessions, a smaller and perfectly curated season of films screening in late October and early November 2026 in South Wairarapa

The Spring Sessions will give audiences another opportunity to catch some of the standout films from our autumn programme that they may have missed, while also introducing some exciting new films to the big screen.

Keep an eye on this page over the coming weeks as we reveal the full programme. We can't wait to share another wonderful season of cinema with you this spring.

13/07/2026

How do we create meaningful cultural experiences that bring people together?

For me, this year's Matariki celebration began with a bowl of boil-up, a remarkable New Zealand documentary, and a conversation with Dame Gaylene Preston.

I've just published a new Story Studio newsletter reflecting on our Matariki Matinee of War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us and the ideas that shaped the event: remembrance, shared kai, cinema and community.

The newsletter includes:
• the story behind the screening
• reflections on Matariki and the Pōhutukawa star
• a conversation with Dame Gaylene Preston
• the boil-up and doughboys recipe we shared before the film
• links to continue exploring this important New Zealand documentary.

If you're interested in film curation, storytelling, art and creating meaningful audience experiences, I'd love you to join me at The Story Studio.

Ngā mihi,
Jane

🔗 https://janecatherineross.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-story-studio-9bd?r=20j903

11/07/2026

✨ What a wonderful way to spend a winter afternoon.

This photograph captures a lovely moment before today's screening, with Dame Gaylene Preston enjoying a delicious bowl of boil-up with doughboys at Cafe Strada as part of our special Matariki lunch.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us for our Matariki Movie Matinee: War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us (1995). It was a privilege to welcome Gaylene to Masterton and to share this remarkable documentary with our community.

The post-screening conversation was a highlight of the afternoon. Hearing the stories behind the stories, and learning more about the making of this powerful film, was every bit as moving as the documentary itself. The courage and generosity of the seven women who shared their wartime experiences will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to Cafe Strada Masterton for creating such a beautiful Matariki lunch, to Regent 3 Cinemas for hosting the screening, and to the Masterton District Council Matariki Fund for helping make this community event possible.

Most of all, thank you to everyone who came along and supported Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival. Your support means we can continue bringing outstanding New Zealand films and filmmakers to Wairarapa.

I'm already looking forward to the next opportunity to bring our community together through the shared experience of film.

✨Mānawatia a Matariki.✨
- Jane

Address

Masterton

Website

http://Waifilmfest.co.nz/

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