Two Cars, One Night

Short Film (Full Length) – 2003

Anyone

Youngsters Romeo, Ed, and Polly wait in two cars after dark, while their parents are inside drinking. It’s a situation many Kiwis will recognise: cars without parents, outside the pub or rugby club. Soon cross-car rivalry warms to budding friendship. Winning performances, and a tender mix of comedy and romance saw Taika Waititi's tale of a Te Kaha pub carpark become an international hit. Two Cars won a boot-full of awards, launched Waititi’s career, and became only the second New Zealand short to be nominated for an Academy Award. Waititi infamously feigned sleep during the 2005 ceremony.

There are a few moments in childhood that have a lasting impact. Not because they change the course of your life, or because they arrive with any great fanfare, in fact quite the opposite. Those are moments where an unexpected joy is found in the everyday, a moment of beauty in the ordinary. Two Cars, One Night captures one of those brief moments.
– Writer/director Taika Waititi, in the press kit for Two Cars, One Night