The trailer for local drama film Punch has today been unveiled ahead of its nationwide general release on September 8th, 2022. The film stars British actor and Oscar nominee Tim Roth (Bergman Island, Rob Roy, Pulp Fiction, Tin Star), alongside rising Aotearoa talent Jordan Oosterhof (Cul De Sac) and Toi Whakaari graduate Conan Hayes (Sweet Tooth).

Welby Ings, whose award-winning short films have screened at more than 80 international festivals, is writer and director for the project. Punch is a contemporary love story about loyalty and redemption.

The story follows seventeen-year-old small-town golden boy and boxing hero, Jim (Oosterhof), who carries the hopes and dreams of his father Stan (Roth) on his shoulders. His growing relationship with local boy, Whetu (Hayes), forces him to confront the truth about his sexuality, navigating isolation, hypocrisy and the brutality of small town life.

Punch had been a long-time passion project for writer and director Welby Ings: “I am so proud of this story - rarely told – it’s a homage to a truth-facing, compassionate world. Sometimes adversity is beautiful. Punch is like that. I fought for 15 years to bring the story into the light. Magnificent cast and crew wrestled the film from between the jaws of Covid-19 and the country that I love unfolded a breathtaking landscape.”

Ings adds: “Punch is really the story of anybody who has fought to find their place in the world, even when this means losing the things that keep you safe.”

Punch received its world premiere at the Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival 2022 this past weekend. It will screen in 14 centres around New Zealand as part of the festival in the lead-up to its nationwide cinema release on September 8th, 2022.

Punch is produced by Catherine Fitzgerald (Coming Home in the Dark, Bellbird) of Blueskin Films, and Robin Murphy (Lowdown Dirty Criminals, Births, Deaths and Marriages) for Robin Murphy Productions. The film is made with investment from The New Zealand Film Commission, and the New Zealand Government’s Screen Production Grant and Screen Production Recovery Fund. Punch is distributed byVendetta Films in New Zealand and Australia with international sales by The Yellow Affair.