Ms. Information (feature documentary, 2023)
Critically acclaimed feature documentary selected for Whānau Mārama: NZ International Film Festival and FIFO Tahiti. Finalist for the Dumbo Film Festival.
As the nation plunges into the pandemic, Gwen Isaac’s observational documentary delves into the trenches with Siouxsie Wiles, the fuchsia-haired microbiologist who emerged as a national hero and a satanic witch in the minds of a divided New Zealand.
Visible Evidence XXIX (2023)
Gwen presented Women in the Wild to international documentary filmmakers and academics at the Visible Evidence conference in Udine, Italy.
Siouxsie and the Virus (short documentary, 2020)
This short documentary for prestigious NZ documentary strand Loading Docs follows “science superhero with pink hair” Dr Siouxie Wiles as she advocates for the scientific logic behind Aotearoa’s COVID-19 lockdown with the nation’s media. It has clocked up half-a-million views and was awarded best film in the Long Story Shorts competition. This short will be followed up with Isaac’s second feature documentary Siouxsie with an X (forthcoming).
Tokyo Woman (short documentary, 2021)
Tokyo Woman is a triptych of intimate portrayals of Toyko-based women, exposing gender imbalances in contemporary Japan. It was selected for four international festivals, winning Best Sound and Music at the WILDSound Festival in Canada, and was also featured as part of the 2022 Sightlines ASPERA peer-reviewed online journal.
Where There is Life (feature documentary, 2017)
Isaac’s debut feature documentary Where There is Life follows the story of Margaret, a mother who has been diagnosed with a terminal disease, her husband and full-time carer Stephen, and her ten-year-old daughter. Filmed over four years, Isaac’s documentary provides an intimate account of ‘till death us do part’. It premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival in 2017, where the selection panel acclaimed the film “startling in its candour”. It was subsequently included in international film festivals including Doc Without Borders, The Wayward Festival, and the Blow-up International Art House Film Festival (USA). Gwen won Best First Time Film Director for her work on the film at the London Independent Film Awards.
