Hamish Bennett is a New Zealand Maori writer/director (Te Arawa, Patuharakeke, Kai Tahu). He has made two award winning shorts, The Dump (2011) and Ross & Beth (2014). Bellbird (2019) was Hamish's first feature film. It expanded on the world established in the two shorts, and was filmed in the small rural Northland community where he grew up. Described by Variety as "exquisitely tuned" and by Screen International as a "deeply felt slice-of-life delight", Bellbird had its world premiere as one of