Trailer Unveiled For Caterpillar, Chelsie Preston Crayford’s Feature; Debut In Cinemas Across New Zealand From May 14

The official trailer has been unveiled today for CATERPILLAR, the debut feature from award-winning New Zealand actor and filmmaker Chelsie Preston Crayford (A Remarkable Place to Die, Underbelly: Razor).

Set in Wellington in 2003, CATERPILLAR is a moving, multi-generational drama about three women living under one roof as the delicate balance of their family begins to unravel. When a grandmother’s mind starts to fail, a teenage girl and her single-mother filmmaker are drawn into a journey that will redefine love, responsibility and what it means to let go.

The film stars Marta Dusseldorp (Bay of Fires, A Place to Call Home), RADA-trained screen and stage icon Lisa Harrow (The Last Days of Chez Nous, The Brokenwood Mysteries), and Anais Shand (Mystic, The Shannara Chronicles), delivering powerful performances across three pivotal stages of womanhood.

The newly released trailer offers a first look at the film’s emotionally charged storytelling and richly textured early-2000s setting, while the key art introduces the film’s central visual motif - the Monarch caterpillar and butterfly - a metaphor for transformation, fragility and resilience.

CATERPILLAR marks Preston Crayford’s move into feature filmmaking, building on her award-winning short films Here Now, Imposter and Falling Up.

While inspired by her own maternal line, CATERPILLAR is not autobiographical. Preston Crayford describes the film as a story about women navigating change - individually and collectively.

“The film is a work of autofiction,” she says. “It’s inspired by my experience of growing up in a matriarchy, but the story isn’t factual. It’s a fable about three very different women muddling through three very pivotal life stages with everyone’s needs colliding. You could describe it as a coming of age for an entire maternal line.”

Anchored in deeply recognisable family dynamics, CATERPILLAR explores relationships that feel intimate and familiar - inviting audiences to see themselves on screen, and to have a laugh and a cry along the way.

CATERPILLAR will be released theatrically in New Zealand on May 14, 2026, and is distributed by Madman Entertainment. The film is produced by Georgina Conder (Cousins, Red, White & Brass) and Andrew Marshall (Falling Up, The Power of the Dog), and was made with the support of Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga / the New Zealand Film Commission.

ABOUT MADMAN ENTERTAINMENT

Madman Entertainment is an independent distributor with a focus on remarkable stories. We are proud to share films with audiences in Australia and New Zealand that transcend the screen; start conversations, encourage reflection and empower change. From documentaries that reflect on our national identity, to bold dramas that push the boundaries of cinema, or animated content at the bleeding edge of creativity, Madman represents content that connects with audiences well beyond the cinema or lounge room.

Films distributed by Madman include over 100 Academy Award® nominees and winners. Headlined by 2020’s historic Best Picture win for PARASITE; over 35 documentary nominees and Best Documentary Feature wins for SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN, MAN ON WIRE, FREE SOLO, CITIZENFOUR and THE COVE; over 20 nominations for Best International Film including THE QUIET GIRL, FLEE, CAPERNAUM, TONI ERDMANN, THE HUNT, A ROYAL AFFAIR, DEPARTURES, THE COUNTERFEITERS; and Best Animated Feature winners SPIRITED AWAY, LOVING VINCENT and HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE.

Madman has distributed a number of New Zealand films that rank amongst the highest-grossing local films of all time including the 2025 box office smash TINĀ and others including HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, THE BREAKER UPPERERS, SAVAGE recently adding classics SIONES WEDDING & WHALE RIDER to the catalogue.

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