Staff Picks: Michael McDonnell

Being a programmer for NZIFF, I’m lucky enough to have seen a good portion of the selection already. The absolute highlight has to be La Flor. I’ll admit to some trepidation sitting down to watch a 14-hour film, but before long I was hanging out to see the next episode. Under the Silver Lake and We Are Little Zombies play similarly fast and loose with narrative conventions and are all the more enjoyable for it. It’s an extremely strong year for documentaries and amongst the most entertaining for quite different reasons are Cold Case Hammarskjöld, Martha: A Picture Story and You Don’t Nomi. Great titles from Cannes I’ve managed to see include The Orphanage, Song Without a Name and The Whistlers, while I’m looking forward to catching up on titles like Bacurau, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Sorry We Missed You during the festival. — Michael McDonnell, Programme Manager