Best movies like Kawa

A young Muslim man, Rami, who is engaged to a young woman named Sara. We soon discover that Sam is also involved on the side with a young male artist named Lee.

A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.

Documentary of three gay men living in the Palestine-Israel region trade reflections on their situation and that of the region they live.

Rodeo cowboy Jack and ranch hand Ennis are hired as sheepherders in 1963 Wyoming. One night on Brokeback Mountain, they spark a physical relationship. Though Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart and Jack marries a fellow rodeo rider, they keep up their tortured, sporadic love affair for 20 years.

At a summer sleepover, two best friends realize they may be connected by more than just friendship.

One-time Maori speed-chess champ, Genesis Potini, lives with a bi-polar disorder and must overcome prejudice and violence in the battle to save his struggling chess club, his family and ultimately, himself.

Two Navy fighter pilots find themselves in the midst of a forbidden relationship throwing their lives and careers into disarray.

Based on the off-Broadway/Broadway smash of the 1970s; a poor Harvard student's romance with a girl hits a rough spot when he realizes, on his 21st birthday, that he may be in love with her brother.

An intimate story set during the 1860s in which a young Irish woman Sarah and her family find themselves on both sides of the turbulent wars between British and Maori during the British colonization of New Zealand.

Golden Delicious is a coming-of-age story about an Asian-Canadian teenager who is torn between his girlfriend’s dreams of their future and his father’s ambition, all the while struggling with finding himself and following his own desires.

After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada McGrath and her young daughter, Flora, are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair Stewart. Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his Maori-friendly acquaintance, George Baines, leading to tense, life-altering conflicts.

A boy imprisoned by an abusive recluse mother alone in a mansion in the 1920s begins to get ideas of his own when a goblin in his closet comforts him in the dark.

The arrival of gorgeous and enigmatic Luella Miller instantly disrupts the social balance of a small New Zealand town in this spine-tingling psychological thriller.

One night, screenwriter Adam, in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, has a chance encounter with his mysterious neighbor Harry that punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As Adam and Harry get closer, Adam is pulled back to his childhood home where he discovers that his long-dead parents are both living and look the same age as the day they died over 30 years ago.

Poet Siegfried Sassoon survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery, but became a vocal critic of the government's continuation of the war when he returned from service. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London's literary and stage world, he embarked on affairs with several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality.

Nolan Mack, a soft-spoken bank employee, undoubtedly loves his wife Joy, though their cavernous empty house only underscores how disconnected they’ve always been from each other. Nolan finds himself drifting from his familiar present-day life in pursuit of lost time after meeting a troubled young man named Leo on his drive home. What begins as an aimless drive down an unfamiliar street turns into a life-altering series of events.

Colm is in his mid-forties, married, with two teenage children. Still grieving the death of his father, a destructive figure in his life, Colm struggles with his relationship to his own son, whilst at work a recent takeover threatens his job. Unable to share his vulnerability with his wife, Colm’s world is falling apart around him. In the midst of this crisis, Colm finds a comfort that no one else can provide but Jay.

The Falls: Testament of Love is a continuation of the story of RJ Smith and Chris Merrill, two Mormon missionaries that fell in love during their mission in a small town in Oregon. The boys haven't spoken in five years, but when an unexpected tragedy compells them back to the Oregon town where they served, they find themselves, once again, thrust into one another's lives. As old feelings begin to surface they find themselves again facing difficult choices. If they pursue their desire to be together, RJ and Chris risk hurting the ones they care about as they embark on a spiritual journey to discover love, freedom, and happiness.

New Zealand independent drama following a young Māori man who moves to the country to rebuild his life after facing prejudices around his sexual orientation. He takes on a job on a farm where he grows attached to the farmer’s son. But when their relationship grows, the situation steers into darker territories…

Hunky Daniel couldn’t have it better – great parents, a successful career as an investment banker, and the beautiful Jen as his fiancée. A seemingly perfect life… but there is one temptation that may derail his best laid plans for the straight-and-narrow: he has a thing for Tommy, a charming former college classmate who is now openly gay.

Henry Gamble's Birthday Party takes place over 24 hours at the birthday pool party of 17-year-old preacher's kid Henry Gamble. The party guests include adults and teenagers from his church, as well as Henry's "secular" friends, including the closeted young Logan, who has eyes for Henry.

Rewi Rapana returns to the small country town of Te Mata after his family has left the district. His arrival rekindles old tensions as well as renewing family ties. He is seeking an identity and a permanent place to call home yet desperately hiding a secret from his past. Oddly enough there is one person with whom he finds peace of mind. She is an old woman known as Kara. A special relationship develops between Rewi, Kara and Kara’s great granddaughter Awatea.

An ex-Boer war guerrilla in New Zealand is sent out to bring back a Maori accused of killing a British soldier. Gradually they grow to know and respect one another but a posse, led by the British Commanding officer is close behind and his sole intention is to see the Maori hang. Written by Filmfinders 1903. A guerilla fighter from the South African Boer war called Arjan (Winstone) takes on a manhunt for Maori seaman Kereama (Morrison), who is accused of murdering a British soldier. What follows is a cat and mouse pursuit through the varied landscape of NZ with both hunter and huntee testing their bushcraft and wits against that of the other. Written by Anonymous

‘The Legend of Baron To’a’ tells the story of Fritz, a Tongan entrepreneur who returns to his old neighbourhood and inadvertently causes the theft of his late father’s valued pro wrestling title belt by some ruthless gangsters led by ‘man-mountain’ Tahu. When negotiation and diplomacy fail to get it back, he is forced to embrace his father’s legacy to reclaim the title.

Deep within a dark, twisted forest, at a faraway adventure camp, a group of young 'camp leaders' play a fast and furious game of 'hide and seek'. The atmosphere is strange and thick with tension - there is a feeling in the air that all is not well. Alliances are formed; relationships are tested, and in some cases disintegrate to the point of violence. All the while they are being watched by someone... or something. In a spectacular climax, the mystery begins to unravel as everything becomes suddenly and painfully clear. The shocking, violent truth is far worse than could ever have been imagined...

Biopic about the life of Whina Cooper, an activist who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of fellow Māori women.

This autobiographical story about a love affair between two men was filmed on location in inner-city Auckland. Richard an astronomy-obsessed worrier spends his time fantasising about outerspace and the cosmos, an activity which antagonises friends and family. Then one day he meets Johnny, a handsome Italian man, with an enormous appetite for life, whose idea of a holiday involves breaking into the nearest small holiday home. He offers him love and an escape from the monotony of work. This short New Zealand film is a joyous celebration of the love between two eccentrics. It is also a refreshingly matter-of-fact and comic treatment of a romance between two men who both have their sights aimed firmly amongst the stars. Released on the compiliations: Boys on Film Volume 3 (1994)

Jim is preparing for his first professional fight but begins to rethink his life's trajectory and his sexuality after tangling with Whetu, a gay Maori boy who spends his days in an old shack down by the beach.

When a young gay man comes out of the closet, his friends support him, but when he comes out to his parents, he stirs up a wealth of hidden feelings and secrets in their relationship.

A medicine woman - a giver of life - is asked to hide a secret which may protect one life but which will destroy another.

American-born Anna Vorontosov teaches school in a remote, primitive section of northern New Zealand. Her experimental teaching methods have won her the love and affection of her pupils and their parents and the admiration of the unhappily married school inspector, Abercrombie. Her personal life, however, is less secure; frightened of love and sexually inhibited, she has always been aloof with men. Eager to break down this barrier is Englishman Paul Lathrope, a somewhat irrational and immature fellow teacher who aspires to be a singer. Though Anna is attracted to him, she refuses to submit to his advances.

Eight Māori female directors have each contributed a sequence to this powerful and challenging feature which unfolds around the tangi of a small boy who died at the hands of his caregiver.

Between getting trashed, tripping, blowing guys off and writing songs, Mark falls for Stephen. Fig and Sally put perform Marks songs between casual sex with anyone and everyone. Katie is a few-hit wonder who hit rock-bottom in L.A and returns to New Zealand to patch her life back together. Stephen, Mark and Katie branch out for a slumber party at a beach house of their better days. Fig and Sally arrive, and not long after Eddie arrives also (Katies American guy). Mark stops running away from Stephens love, Katie and Eddie get engaged and Fig and Sally ... have sex?

Turei, a talented young musician, dreams of his band winning the audition to be the support act for Bob Marley’s 1979 concert in Auckland. Part of a Māori family of contract potato pickers in Pukekohe, Turei’s desperate ambition clashes with his whanau’s traditional values, leading to an emotional showdown and powerful change.

Three Maori youths, bored with Auckland, head south in a restored Mark II Zephyr in search of something different. One of them is on the run from drug dealers, whom he had crossed. Various mini-adventures occurs as they make their way down the North Island, but it all comes to a head while visiting a cousin. Finally, they, the drug dealers and the police all come together, with the expected fights and arrests.