Desert

Aroview: An impressive independent feature from Korean-New Zealand dir. Stephen Kang, whose Auckland-set film observes the quiet desperation of a young Korean immigrant abandoned by her Kiwi boyfriend in the midst of pregnancy.

Resolutely minimalist in aesthetic and narrative, this curates a particular kind naturalism through watchful camerawork and improvised dialogue that is familiar to the world of art cinema, though much less so to our conservative national cinema. While far from perfect, Kang's film immediately stands out for its digital polish and cine-literate direction - a much needed example of alternative narrative filmmaking still nascent in a country preoccupied with genre cinema and piggybacking on Hollywood productions.