AINSLEY GARDINER

COUSINS (2021)
Starring Tanea Heke, Rachel House, Briar Grace Smith, Ana Scotney, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Cian Elyse White, Miriama Smith, Chelsie Preston Crayford, Cohen Holloway and Kirk Torrance. Directed by Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace Smith.

Mata, Missy and Makareta. Three cousins. Three lives. Separate, yet bound together forever. Orphaned Mata believes she has no whānau and lives out her lonely childhood in fear and bewilderment. Back home on the land, educated Makareta flees an arranged marriage to study law and begin the search for her missing cousin. She leaves behind cheeky yet dutiful Missy who takes on her role of kaitiaki (guardian) of the land. As the years pass and land surveyors begin to encroach, their promise to bring their stolen cousin home seems more unlikely than ever, until a chance encounter changes everything.

THE BREAKER UPPERERS (2018)
Starring Madeleine Sami, Jackie Van Beek, James Rolleston, Cohen Holloway, Rima Te Wiata, Nic Sampson, Kelvin Taylor, Celia Pacquola, Jaquie Brown and Ana Scotney. Directed by Madeleine Sami and Jackie Van Beek.

Two women cynical in love set up an agency to break couples up as a way to avoid letting go and moving on with their lives.

REVIEWS The Breaker Upperers - Another soon-to-be New Zealand comedy classic