Gareth took on the Acting Festival Director Role for New Zealand’s premier Short Film Festival - Show Me Shorts - for the 2021 season.
From over 1600 entries from across the world, the Show Me Shorts programming team curated a spectacular programme of 74 of the world’s best short films including three music videos.
Acting Festival Director Gareth Farry said, “The challenging times we are in has brought a real depth and edginess to the films we have seen this year – it’s a programme like no other in that way. And the fact that New Zealand audiences will be the first in the world to see many of the films is an extraordinary nod to the mana of our special festival.
“We hope our programme will inspire and surprise our audiences. With stories of identity and longing, intrigue and drama, and tales of the chaos of love, they’ll find refreshing takes on familiar themes known to us all, new perspectives in real life stories, and some beautifully-realised animation.”
Spanning a variety of genres – from comedy to science fiction, fantasy to thriller – and each under 20 minutes long, the 2021 selection represented 22 countries: Aotearoa, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Iran, India, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Sudan, USA and the UK.
“By making a selection of the films available online, we hope to bring these unique stories to more Kiwis in far-flung parts of Aotearoa, as well as those who are at home. We are committed to supporting our cinemas, so, wherever possible we recommend seeing the films in their native environment on the big screen,” Farry said.
Despite the pandemic we managed to deliver a hybrid model (both in cinemas where possible), and online for the nationwide audience, to present the 16th edition of the festival.
