Short films set to offer Northland a window on the world

The World in Your Window centres on an 8-year-old boy who becomes friends with a V8-driving transsexual.

Those that like their movies short and sweet are in for a treat when the Show Me Shorts film festival kicks off in Northland.

The festival screens a collection of hand-picked short films called The Sampler which has screened in Kaitaia, Dargaville over the weekend and is on in Whangarei next week.

The collection is described as "some of our most accessible, heart-warming, vibrant and fun shorts from New Zealand and around the world".

For festival director Gina Dellabarca getting to the smaller centres was an important consideration.

"Most festivals go to the major cities, it's really cool to get into the smaller areas. There's some beautiful films in the festival and we're really excited to see what people think."

Ms Dellabarca is no stranger to Northland, she grew up in the Hokianga and visits when she can.

"My parents had a goat farm in Omapere, so I spent the first few years of life drinking goats milk and tumbling around."

The festival is one of a select number with Oscar accreditation which means the winner can qualify for the Academy Awards.

Ms Dellabarca said although the festival started out as a hobby, it was now a full-time job and the appeal of short films is growing internationally for good reason.

"Because of short attention spans yes, but also because they distil an essence of a story, so it is very powerful. You can watch something in 10 minutes and have an emotion, you can get taken on a journey all around the world."

One of her favourites from The Sampler collection is Laundry, a New Zealand film about a woman trying to find a moment to be intimate with her husband but life keeps getting in the way.

Another is The World in Your Window, also from NZ, the story of an 8-year-old boy stuck in a caravan with his grief-stricken father who develops an accidental and unusual friendship with a V8-driving transsexual.

The Sampler short films will screen at Capitaine Bougainville Theatre, Forum North, Whangarei, from 6pm on November 16.

Check out the trailer for The World in your Window here: