Colin Hodson

Colin Hodson is an axiom of Aro Valley no-budget cinema. The male half of the "Uncomfortable Comfortable" couple, and director/star of "Shifter", now adds a third closely observed portrait to his gallery of passive aggressives.

Shifter's life is a mess. His flatmates play "horrible un-music" and drink all the milk. He can't talk to his ex without arguing. He can't get his answerphone messages. His new flat is a tip, and he's having nightmares about killer rabbits -- but it gets worse... The second digital feature from the Wellington, New Zealand based Gordon Productions collective, Shifter is a paranoid black comedy about how the world is really out to get you...

"I wanted to take a slow, searching look at a couple in trouble – it's not punched up melodrama, just the awkward way two people try and fail to negotiate the realisation that it isn’t really working out. At the time we were working within an explicitly realist mode, somewhere between John Cassavetes and Maurice Pialat, exploring the way that improvisation generates an emotional complexity within the characters while helping to maintain an interestingly curved narrative." (Campbell Walker)

The Aro Valley Digital film movement is examined through interviews with the various filmmakers and extensive clips of their work.