Esteban Jaramillo-Ulloa

Based on the treatment of Pacific Island families during the New Zealand Dawn Raids of the 1970’s, this short is an intimate look into a police raid, as told through the eyes of a young girl Losa and her father Lupematasila.

In a place lost to history, soldiers are sent to cull a rebellion brought on by mass psychosis. Ishmael, the executioner, and Boethius, an officiating priest, have grown tired of this bloodwork. When they’re tasked with killing Absalom, a delusional pig farmer who believes himself the royal heir, the two must make a decision; to execute him or to encourage his delusion. A path that could either absolve them of guilt or leave all three dead.

Trapped in a game of hide-and-seek gone wrong, a young girl watches her world unravel from the confines of a closet, haunted by a tragedy that keeps her hidden long after the game ends.