Feature Film finalists 2026
We have two great Feature Films this year, Mighty Indeed and Smoky. Both exceptional and we can't wait for you to see them.
Mighty Indeed
Mighty Indeed
Directed by Vanessa Wells
In one of the harshest places on Earth, three women from different generations chase a hidden and ephemeral world beneath the Antarctic sea ice. Dr Natalie Robinson leads an expedition to McMurdo Sound, joined by PhD student and microbiologist Jacqui Stuart on her first trip south. Mentoring them from afar is veteran sea ice physicist Professor Pat Langhorne.
Battling brutal weather and isolation, the team discovers extraordinary tiny creatures within the delicate structures of the ice. Weaving personal stories with groundbreaking science, this is an intimate and deeply human portrait of life set against the immense scale of Antarctica, told with grit, wit, and surprising warmth.
Director Biography
Vanessa is a filmmaker and theatre practitioner from Aotearoa, New Zealand, who has worked in the arts industry for more than 20 years. Her current feature documentary, MIGHTY INDEED, follows three remarkable women and their scientific work in Antarctica. Having travelled to the Ice three times, Vanessa has developed a significant body of work focused on the icy continent, including an educational children's play, content for Sesame Street, and the short documentary Te Whakairo, which premiered at Show Me Shorts Film Festival in 2019 before touring festivals worldwide.
Vanessa's debut feature documentary, East to East, about teenagers completing the Coast to Coast multisport event, premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival in 2018. Through her production company, Elanti Media, she has also created nine short films for Sesame Street and worked on a range of projects, including co-directing the award-winning interactive work Give Kate A Voice with Vendetta Productions and Vanishing Point Studio.
Alongside her filmmaking, Vanessa has been a member of WIFTNZ since 2007 and has served on its board since 2015. She also tutors film at the University of Canterbury and mentors with the Christchurch City Council.
Watch the trailer here
Smoky
Smoky
Directed by James Fink-Jensen
Smoky the Clown is missing on the eve of a life-saving surgery. Nobody seems alarmed or in a hurry to find him. The house grows quieter, and questions go unanswered.
Dawn doesn't accept it. Already under pressure at law school, she pushes back against the silence. She turns to her cousin Chloe, Smoky's daughter, and starts piecing together what's been left out. What begins as a search for a missing man turns into something else entirely.
Director Biography
James is an award-winning writer and director from Aotearoa, New Zealand. His work explores everyday tensions and the moments they boil over, often drawing on the fears and anxieties that most unsettle him.
His short film THE BALLOON screened across five continents and received nominations at the Brisbane International Film Festival and Catchlight Film Festival in 2024. This followed STRANGERS, which won the New Zealand Emerging Filmmaking Talent Award at Vision Feast in 2023.
SMOKY marks James' debut feature film as a writer and director.