Underplayed Gems

Rūrangi (2020)

Rūrangi poster
Directed by
Max Currie
Country
New Zealand
Rating
9.3 of 10 from 3 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A trans man returns to his rural New Zealand hometown after a decade away. He reconnects with old friends and family while navigating his identity and past relationships.

intimatesincereslow-burnemotionally resonantgroundedhopefulquietly powerfulearnestintrospective

What happens

Rūrangi is a 2020 New Zealand LGBT-related independent drama film directed by Max Currie. The queer and trans-positive drama was written by Cole Meyers and Oliver Page. It stars Elz Carrad in his feature film debut, along with Arlo Green, Kirk Torrance, Awhina-Rose Ashby, Aroha Rawson, Renee Sheridan and Ramon Te Wake. The film had its world premiere at the New Zealand International Film Festival on 26 July 2020. It was screened at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco, where it won an Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, and was released to New Zealand theatres on 4 February 2021. All of the trans characters in the film are portrayed by trans actors. The project was initially released as a five-part web series, which was edited into a feature film for international release. The film was later made into a TV series which won Best Short-Form Series at the 50th International Emmy Awards in 2022. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.