Nine of Hearts (2011)

After great tragedy, what would you wish for? Trembling with energy and a kind of hybrid Maori-Pakeha spiritual magic, Nine of Hearts is a short film unlike any other to emerge from New Zealand. Nine of Hearts is about the cards Gen, a Pakeha mother, has already been dealt, and the cards she is choosing to play now. Dealt the 'wishcard' in a tarot reading, Gen must decide what to wish for: a life she feels has been taken from her, or a new life in which old masks are left behind. Drawn forward by her two high-pitched fairy children, Gen must ultimately confront Nola, her teenaged Maori daughter, who has a wisdom beyond her years and a fury at her mother to match.