Three wise-talking kids, two parked cars and one dark night is all it takes for a little bit of movie magic.

That's the recipe for Taika Waititi's Academy Award-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night, the latest to be included in Stuff's short film festival.

The 2003 short tells the story of three children - all played by local school kids with no acting experience - sitting in cars parked outside the East Cape's Te Kaha pub, waiting for their parents to emerge.

Waititi says the film's story was close to his heart.

"I have spent many nights as a child in the confines of a large Holden outside various pubs, waiting for adults to finish their business," he says.

"For children, the dark world of grown-ups is a mysterious one. It is also very boring. You make your own fun, you invent games, you pick on each other, you pass the time, which can often be hours."

The children were essential to the film's success.

"Although the children had never acted before it became apparent in the auditions that they were naturals ... During the shoot we were all amazed by their performances, how well they could hit marks and also their ability to take direction, process and use it."

Two Cars, One Night has won a host of awards including Best Drama at the 2004 Aspen Film Festival, and Best Short Film at the 2004 Seattle Film Festival.

It was nominated for Best Live Action Short at the 2005 Academy Awards, an event made infamous by Waititi when he pretended to be asleep while they were reading out the nominations.

It was also part of a trilogy of New Zealand films that screened at the Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival earlier this month.

Two Cars, One Night is the ninth film to be hosted on Stuff during its short film season.

The first was Six Dollar Fifty Man, second Poppy, third Only Son, fourth Amadi, fifth Careful with that Crossbow, sixth This Film is a Dog, seventh Infection and eighth Day Trip.

Stuff's short film festival is produced in conjunction with the New Zealand Film Commission and www.nzonscreen.co.nz.