Tonight’s ceremony can be viewed via a livestream on the Herald website.
The festival took place in Wellington for the second year in 2023, with more than 400 entries from around the country and prizes including a tour of the Shortland St film set and Canon camera gear.
The ceremony was hosted by comedian and actress Karen O’Leary.
This year, the prizes up for grabs include a tour of Wētā Workshop, camera, cash prizes and time with industry leaders and actors.
As well as the highly-coveted Wellington UNESCO City of Film Best Overall Film - with the winner set to be awarded a Māoriland Film Festival Experience - here are the awards set to be handed out tonight.
The full list of finalists:
Yoobee College of Creative Innovation Best Directing
Dear Dad, - Acacia Wong
The King - Aislin Hook
Sticky Pages - Emily Quang
Bear Witness - Grace Symmans
Mixed Media - Isaac Giles
Self-Portrait - Ryo Nishikawa
At Arms Length - Toni Tyson
South Pacific Pictures Best Acting
God’s Favourites Fall Hardest - Faith Carolyn Wand
Stuck In A Hard Place - Finn Davey
Smile - Henry Jiao
Nokia Low - Oberon Romond
Motion - Ryan Evans
Crazy Love - Thomas Stewardson
I Thought I Was Alone - Zion McLean
Best Māori Filmmaker
Taurewarewa - Libby Witheford-Smith
The Great South - Taniora Ormsby
One NZ Best Phone Short
Leave a Message at the Tone - Juno Salmon
Living Out Loud: Reflection of Trans Visibility -Lee Li
Wētā FX Best Visual Effects
Hobson’s Choice - Daniel Robinson
A Dragon in Name Only - Jacynta Scurfield
Hardwired - Joel Graham
Lumos - Kate Skoglund
The Broadcast - Madison Kremmer
The Memory Emporium - Michael Allred
Red Light - Tyler Redmond
The NZ Herald Best Documentary
Native Eye - Grace Bridle
Sound in Wind and Limb - Katie Bilbrough
Pōneke Classical Sessions - Sebastian Kerebs
The Unlikely Voyage - Zoe Janda
Living Out Loud: Reflection of Trans Visibility - Lee Li
Blackmagic Design Best Editing
Empty Ceilings - Caleb Rayner
Crescendo - Faith Cruz
ONLINE - Ollie Madsen
Take Me to Your Leader - Rata Shaw
Tape V - Wei-Chi Lin
Canon Best Cinematography
King Karsten - Andrew Watson
It Hunts At Night - Charlie Johnston
The Wētā - Hayden Smithie
Birdsong - Levi Andreas Roberts-Brothers
Borders of the Heart - Weitong Li
Wētā Workshop Best Special Effects
The Trade - Jack Robinson
Smugglers Run - Mark Ruffell
The Puppet Show - Sam Pay
