Homestay

Homestay is a gripping short film from award winning Filipino writer-director Mia Maramara. Illuminating the sobering realities many Filipino migrants face in New Zealand and abroad, the film tells the story of a nurse navigating the pressures of immigration, financial precarity, and the insidious exploitation of migrant labour.

We need YOUR support to help get us to shoot this October.

MIA MARAMARA | WRITER, DIRECTOR

Mia is a Filipino filmmaker who wrote and directed Beyond the Veil: Albularyo for TVNZ that went onto be the National Winner for Best Anthology Episode at the Asian Academy Creative Awards. Her feature film Kāinga has screened at festivals around the world and her latest feature film, Grafted (dir. Sasha Rainbow) has premiered at Sitges Film Festival, NZ International Film Festival, and Hawaii International Film Festival.

Homestay is the prequel to her feature film in development and speaks to her experience with migrant sacrifice and the true price of one’s labour.

JOYCE WONG | PRODUCER

Joyce is an award winning Chinese producer based in Tamaki Makaurau. A proud first generation immigrant from Hong Kong, she is best known for her work focussed on asian led stories such as TVNZ comedy series, Camp Be Better which has been featured at MIPCOM, Sydney Web Fest and NZ Web Fest.

The themes of Homestay speaks deeply to her as a child of immigrant parents and she is excited to support Mia in her journey to grow as a director.

OUR TALENTED CREW

Morgan Leigh Stewart | Executive Producer

Tammy Williams | Director of Photography

Ellen Jones-Poole | Production Designer

Lisa Prestt | 1st Assistant Director

Kerri Roggio | Editor

Matt Kofoed | Gaffer

Joey Siasco | Sound Recordist

Sacha Young | Costume Designer

Asrita Singh | Hair & Makeup Designer

Images & Sound | Post-Production House

Our campaign is designed to raise the gap finance required to finish the film and provide our cast & crew with basic necessities on our production.

The below are ways you can support us on our journey:

• Shout us a coffee - $5
• Feed a crew member - $25
• Help us hire a rehearsal room - $100
• Contribute to our hero prop, the ‘scary hare’ - $200
• Contribute to our heritage house shoot location - $500
• Help us make our brain dialysis machine - $500
• Get our lead cast member to NZ - $2000
• Contribute to our Camera Kit from Imagezone - $2000
• Contribute to our Lighting Kit - $2000
• Contribute to our Post Production costs from Images & Sound - $2000

Your generous support will not be forgotten and all donations will give you access to exclusive behind the scenes content on our One7 Pictures Close Friends Group, personalised Boosted updates, a credit in our film, and a thank you polaroid from the Homestay team.

Homestay follows a Filipino nurse who finds herself trapped between losing her job or losing her mind when her dementia patient pushes her to abuse an experimental procedure.

MESSAGE FROM THE CREATOR

This is a story five years in the making.

The film reflects the invisible labour that keeps our communities and economies running, even as migrants remain vulnerable and undervalued. As a migrant worker myself, I know what it means to keep your mouth shut, do the job, and swallow your own expertise. This is a story for every migrant who has traded their body, labour, or future for a chance at survival. And it’s also a story about how deeply we rely on those sacrifices as a society. By telling it now, we hope to spark dialogue, empathy, and change.

Mia.