Horse Game (Short Film)

Horse Game is a third-year short film produced by students in the Screen Arts programme at Massey University Wellington. As part of our final-year coursework, the project is supported by Massey University and developed by a team of emerging filmmakers. To bring the film to life, we are aiming to raise approximately $5,000 to support production costs, including equipment, locations, art direction, catering, transport, and post-production.

To reach this goal, we are planning a series of community-focused fundraising events. The first is a special screening of the documentary Prime Minister at Massey University's cinema, made possible through our access to the film and the support of the university. This event will provide an opportunity for audiences to engage with local filmmaking while contributing directly to the project.

In addition, we are organising a live music fundraiser at a local Wellington venue, featuring local bands, DJs, and artists from our community. The event will not only raise funds for the film but also celebrate and showcase Wellington's vibrant creative scene. Through these events, we hope to build audience engagement, generate financial support, and create a strong community around the production of Horse Game.

The core creative team behind Horse Game consists of Rosie Hazard (Producer), Joe (Director), and Arlo (Director of Photography), supported by a wider team of talented Screen Arts students from Massey University Wellington.

Over the past three years, we have been studying filmmaking and developing our skills through a range of collaborative projects. Last year, many of us worked together to create a short film with almost no budget, relying on creativity, teamwork, and determination to bring it to life.

With Horse Game, we are excited to take the next step and create our most ambitious project yet. Through the support of our community and fundraising efforts, we hope to produce a larger-scale film that showcases the skills and experience we have gained throughout our degree.

We are aiming to fundraise $5000 for our film. We are shooting in a lot of areas outside the Wellington region so need funds to get our cast and crew from A to B. 

• Petrol
• Feeding Cast & Crew
• Paying Actors
• Locations
• Props and costumes
• Festival Entries
• Plus extra camera equipment we need to source outside of Massey

The film itself follows two guys on a road trip back to Wellington playing the car game known as ‘Horse’ where you have to call out Horses and flags when you see them. With one of the boys being Pakeha and the the other Maori, the boys begin a big discussion about the United Tribes flag and the meaning it has to them while moving through an op shop, they end up talking about the story of it being cut down during the Northern Wars and the symbolism of destroying a flag. The second part of the film follows a neo nazi who finds himself outside a families home that has a transgender flag flying outside, when they leave the neo nazi goes to destroy but is stopped by the dad who confronts him and convinces him not to burn it. The film itself is split into two separate story lines that connect through their meaning and analogy rather than events, exploring the ideas around flags and the meaning they have in the context they are in.

We strongly believe in the story we are telling and its relevance to contemporary New Zealand. Through comedy, Horse Game explores both the celebrated and often overlooked aspects of New Zealand culture, using humour to engage with more complex social issues.

At its core, the film examines masculinity, specifically different ways it’s explored or seen in new zealand culture around young men. By exploring these ideas through a comedic lens, the film encourages audiences to reflect on identity, belonging, and the expectations placed on individuals by society. These themes feel particularly important in the current social and political climate , especially with current bills being pushed trying to strip Transgender people away from their identity and Māori even more away from their land then the government already has, it feels like a very relevant time to be exploring these ideas.Conversations surrounding identity, representation, and cultural belonging remain highly relevant and we hope the film can contribute to these discussions in a way that is thoughtful, accessible, and entertaining.