Feature Documentary
A feature documentary (100 minutes)
DIRECTED and produced BY GWEN ISAAC.
Executive Producer: Samm Haillay
"Isaac’s third and most personal film to date is a vulnerably raw, honest and irreverent attempt to get to the bottom of who her mother really was, and in so doing reclaim her own narrative from a ghost that still looms large, especially now that her own daughters are entering a rebellious age.” (August, 2026, NZIFF)
Filmed over six years, Be Merry weaves together present-day motherhood with archival and animated fragments as she sets off to investigate the hometown that holds the secrets to her mother -- and her own identity.
As Gwen documents her young daughters — echoing her mother’s obsessive gaze — the film asks whether creativity is passed down as a gift or burden.
What emerges is a deeply personal, feminist re-examination of a woman reduced to the label “mad,” and a daughter’s attempt to reclaim authorship over a story that has been mishandled over time.
Rolling Stone compares Gwen to one of the greats saying, “like the great Chantal Akerman”, and The Post, said "Be Merry - a vulnerable documentary about family, mental health, and Isaac’s lifelong search to understand the woman who shaped her."
A feature documentary (104 minutes).
Directed by Gwen Isaac.
Produced by Alex Reed and Phillida Perry.
Ms. INFORMATION is a revealing rollercoaster ride through the life and times of a polarizing scientist, mother and leader.
It traces the triumphs and tears of Dr Siouxsie Wiles, a non-conforming pink-haired scientist whose unique skill at communicating life-saving science catapults her into the limelight when Covid hits New Zealand.
Siouxsie’s outspoken nature and distinctive appearance turn her into a much-awarded feminist icon but also make her a target for violent and threatening abuse. And when she won’t back down and insists on remaining her unconventional self, the attacks intensify to reveal the angst of a small nation in flux.
As the storm rages, teenage daughter Eve watches her Mum face off bullies and misogyny, developing her own theories on the peaks and pitfalls of being a woman of influence.
A Feature Documentary (80 minutes).
Directed & Produced by Gwen Isaac.
Where There is Life follows the journey of Margaret Lee, her husband Stephen and their daughter Imogen, after Margaret is diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in late 2010.
Director Gwen Isaac (Loading Doc Siouxie & the Virus) follows a family struggling with the impact of the degenerative condition, as they confront the question "how should we live when we are dying?" Imogen was 10 when a defiant Margaret was diagnosed, and Stephen became her full-time carer.
