SHADOW CUT

A restless teen approaches adulthood in rural New Zealand. He spends an afternoon with his best friend, struggling to confide his plans for the future.

Shadow Cut was awarded the New Zealand Film Commission’s highly competitive Kōpere Hou Fresh Shorts grant. The film screened at 20 festivals, including Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), New Orleans Film Festival, HollyShorts and Tallinn Black Nights PÖFF Shorts. At TIFF, Shadow Cut was nominated for Best International Short Film. Shadow Cut earned Lucy the Newcomer Award for Best Debut Short Film at the Manchester International Short Film Festival. Shadow Cut has gone on to be taught at universities and high schools across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Role: writer, director, editor

Short Film | Narrative | Drama | 14 minutes | 2.39:1 Scope

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

When I was eleven I moved to the Far North of Aotearoa New Zealand. My first best friend there was a quiet, thoughtful, creative boy who was unlike any one else I had met in our small rural town. Our friendship was sweet and silly, intimate and innocent. Over the years we grew apart, but later in adulthood our paths crossed again and our friendship reignited. This reunion brought back memories of my adolescence, which in turn sparked the development of Shadow Cut’s screenplay.

While Shadow Cut is an intimate story, told from a very small part of the world, it hopes to engage with an international audience on a personal level, taking them on a journey that connects them to their own coming of age and feelings of finding independence and self.

team

Behind the scenes stills by Finn McGowan and Johnny Lyon.