A first-time short film director in Te Whanganui-ā-Tara. I whakapapa to Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, and Kāti Māmoe. Upcoming screenings of TAUREWAREWA are in March 2025 at Melbourne Women in Film Festival and the acclaimed Māoriland Film Festival in Ōtaki.
Based in Te Whanganui-ā-Tara (Wellington, New Zealand), Libby Witheford-Smith graduated film school in 2022, having written the student short Old Haunt. This went on to win awards, including Best Next Gen Short at Melbourne Women in Film Festival.
Their next project, a funded documentary about bipolar, won her Best Māori Filmmaker at the New Zealand Youth Film Festival, the same project also being nominated for Best Directing of a Documentary in the NZ Web Fest.
Currently digitising archive videos for work and studying creative writing for play, Libby's passion for story, history and language runs deep and true, almost acting as a navigational tool in her life.
  • Interviewee (1 Credit)
    Taurewarewa2024
    Documentary, Short
  • Director (1 Credit)
    Taurewarewa2024
    Documentary, Short
  • Writer (1 Credit)
    Old Haunt2022
    Short, Student
Best Māori Filmmaker - Winner
Taurewarewa
New Zealand Youth Film Festival
Te Whanganui-ā-Tara/Wellington
2024
Best Directing for a Documentary – Finalist
Taurewarewa
NZ Web Fest
2024
Best Next Gen Short
Old Haunt
Melbourne Women in Film Festival
Melbourne, VIC
2024
Screened Selection
Old Haunt
Wētā FX Crew Film Festival
Wellington
2023
Gold Award for Best Ghost Film
Old Haunt
Fortean Film Festival
2023
Award of Excellence
Old Haunt
Canada Shorts - Canadian & International Film Fest
2023
Semi-Finalist for Best Short Film
Old Haunt
Student World International Film Festival
2023
Silver Award for Student Film
Old Haunt
6th New Zealand Cinematographer's Society Awards
2023
Official Selection
Taurewarewa
Māoriland Film Festival
Ōtaki
Official Selection
Taurewarewa
Melbourne Women in Film Festival
Naarm/Melbourne
Birth Date
January 31, 2003
Current City
Wellington, NZ/Pōneke, Aotearoa
Zodiac Sign
Aquarius
A first-time short film director in Te Whanganui-ā-Tara. I whakapapa to Kāi Tahu, Waitaha, and Kāti Māmoe. Upcoming screenings of TAUREWAREWA are in March 2025 at Melbourne Women in Film Festival and the acclaimed Māoriland Film Festival in Ōtaki.
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