Lest We Forget

We’re making a short film about chosen family, bad decisions, and the mindf*** of living our little lives amongst such geopolitical turmoil and tragedy. We need your help to ensure all our talented creatives are paid fairly for their time. We know times are tough so any donation, no matter how small, helps. Thank you!

DIRECTOR & WRITER: 
Connor Amor-Bendall is a writer and director known for The Clitoris Conundrum 2024/2026, she is the 2026 Praise The Lord Playwright In Residence, an alumni of Auckland Theatre Company’s Emerging Writers Table Alumni, and Proud Voices on Screen’s Queer Producers Incubator. Connor has appeared on screen in Sweet Tooth, Power Rangers, Testify, Shortland Street, Literally Dead, and The Ridge. 

DOP:
Bayley Broome-Peake is a queer, female DOP based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her credits inclue: Mum I'm Alien Pregnant,  Alien Weaponry ft Randy Blyte: Taniwhai, Mr. McMahon, Holy Ghost, Vida - The Story of Takavi, Rurangi, Evil Dead Rise, The Last Daughter, Don't Make Me Go,  Under the Vines, The Panthers, Teine Sa 

PRODUCER:
Meg Robinson is an actress, producer and writer. Her credits include Yeah The Girls, Little Fish, Run, and The Clitoris Conundrum.

COSTUME DESIGNER:
Claire Whyburd is a costume designer and stylist based in Tāmaki Makaurau who works across film, fashion. Her credits include: My Life is Murder, Cowboy Bebop, One Of Us Is Lying, and Testify. She has styled musicians such as Kédu Carlö and Estere. 

SOUND DESIGNER: 
Kédu is a boundary-pushing musician, producer, and DJ from Aotearoa and one half of live electronic performance duo Kédu Carlö. Her screen credits include Amali, What Is Left Unsaid and for theatre, The Clitoris Conundrum.

CAST:

Amanda Tito (Shortland Street, Step Dave, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Bombshell, Queen of Carthage, Mean Mums, The Trials of Trudy Lane, Mother Play - Silo Theatre, Romeo and Juliet - Auckland Theatre Company, Scenes from a Climate Era - Auckland Theatre Company)

Arlo Green (Crackhead, Mum I'm Alien Pregnant, Bust Up, Spit, Workmates, Miles From Nowhere, Bump, Cowboy Bebop, The Gulf, M3GAN, The Brokenwood Mysteries, One Lane Bridge, Shortland Street, A View From The Bridge - Silo Theatre, Mary: The Birth of Frankenstein - Auckland Theatre Company, The Seagull - Auckland Theatre Company, A Streetcar Named Desire - Silo)

Greta Gregory (Crackhead, Sweet Tooth, One Lane Bridge, My Life Is Murder, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Bombshell, The Cul De Sac)

Holly Hudson (The Brokenwood Mysteries, Upon Her Lips: Open Secrets, Touch Wood, Long Time Coming, To Kill A Mockingbird - Auckland Theatre Company, Filthy Business - Auckland Theatre Company, The Master Builder - Auckland Theatre Company, The Tempest - Pop Up Globe)

We have received funding from Day One Shorts, but still need $5,600 to cover:

• Wages
• Camera Hire Equipment
• Lighting Hire Equipment
• Music Licensing
• Venue Hire Fees

Thank you so much to Day One Shorts, Whakaata Māori, RNZ, NZOA, NZFC and TMP for making this project even possible to begin with.

Film Overview:

Our premise is simple: Two couples, now exes & once best friends. One night to hash over the past. What could go wrong?

Exes Mia and Ava, Cam and George were once all best friends who lived together. Now they are all victims of the great blight of the late-twenties - long-term breakups.

Six months after their in-sync separations, they meet up for a drink to hash things out and try to repair their friendships. The best intentions are laid to ruin as Pandora’s box of past grievances is flung wide open when a dirty secret comes out.

Lest We Forget is an ode to the chapters we’re not quite ready to close and to chosen family. It acknowledges that leaving a lover often means mourning the loss of friends, and the particular pain of this for queer people, for who friends are often our whānau.

Lest We Forget is queer film that doesn’t centre the narrative around the trauma of coming out, or being queer in a het-world. Our characters are messy, badly behaved at times and most importantly, existing in a world where queerness is an assumed norm. In political times such as the hellscape we find ourselves in, telling stories where queerness is front and centre and inherently normal is more important than ever to protect the rights of our community.