We celebrated New Zealand film on Monday night with a preview of The Moon is Upside Down, the just released directorial debut from Loren Taylor that she describes as“an existential cathartic comedy”. 

Guests including Jackie van Beek, Jaquie Brown, Mia Blake, Karen Walker, James Milne aka Lawrence Arabia, Frances Lowe from the brand Loclaire and Ruby designer Deanna Didovich, gathered in the charming low-ceilinged lobby of The Capitol cinema on Auckland’s Dominion Road, before heading into the cinema to watch the preview. A lucky winner also left with a $300 voucher from Kowtow, Loren’s fellow Pōneke-based friends. “The movie was a real NZ piece of art and will keep me thinking for days,” said Brown following the screening.

Written and directed by Loren, who also stars, the film follows three women – “a duped mail-order bride, a numbed anaesthetist determined to have a romantic weekend, and an empty nester on an unexpected mission of mercy” – as each “navigates her way through an unfamiliar landscape and the contours of the human heart”. It features a starry cast including Victoria Haralabidou, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Jemaine Clement, Rachel House, Robbie Magasiva and Robyn Malcolm, plus an all-women producing team.

See who came along, and make sure to watch the film which is in cinemas across the country from May 2.