News

On this fine Friday 13th, we’re shining the spotlight on our lineup of kooky, creepy, weirdly wonderful and out-of-the-box films, aka the nocturnal strand.

First up - you asked and we listened - David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds is coming to NZIFF 2025! Featuring Cronenberg’s affinity for the macabre, the film follows a recently bereaved app developer who creates GraveTech, a bizarre new technological frontier involving ‘shrouds’, which reproduce the body in the grave as a 3D model that mourners can watch decompose remotely via their smartphone.

Also among the lineup, OBEX blends horror, sci-fi, old-school gaming nostalgia and Lynchian dread into a heady and undefinable mix that will haunt your dreams. The story of a reclusive nerd who must enter a video game to fight a demon and rescue his dog, OBEX is a surreal analog nightmare for anyone who remembers a world before tv’s were flat.

Kiwi comedy-romance, Workmates, will have its world premiere at NZIFF 2025!

Directed by Curtis Vowell (Baby Done, The Outlaws, Seize Them!, Fantail) and written by Sophie Henderson (Baby Done, The Justice of Bunny King, Fantail), Workmates is a funny, heartfelt love story starring Sophie Henderson (Human Traces, Fantail) and Matt Whelan (Narcos, Go Girls) as Lucy and Tom - best friends, theatre-makers, and co-workers.

When an accident threatens to shut down the tiny, underfunded theatre they’ve built together,
Lucy realises she would do anything to save the theatre and keep her friend… who she might be in love with.

Grab your festival Multipass for best value tickets!

It’s official - Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winner, It Was Just An Accident, is this year’s opening night film.

Filmed in secret in Iran, It Was Just An Accident is a road movie revenge thriller featuring biting black humour, borderline absurd happenings, and vividly shifting viewpoints from a van-load of ex-prisoners. At the same time, it looks at bigger questions around morality, justice, unhealed trauma and the impact of the Iranian regime.

And strikingly, there’s an air of the autobiographical for acclaimed director Jafar Panahi, once imprisoned himself and finally free from a filmmaking ban imposed by Iranian authorities. With It Was Just An Accident, Panahi tempers the anger with irony, and ultimately, he shows us that we can stay human only by seeking justice and truth rather than vengeance.

"Jafar Panahi's film is cinema at its boldest. It challenges the notion of revenge through compassion. It is the kind of cinema that stays with you. I am excited that New Zealand audiences will be among the first in the world to see it!" - Paolo Bertolin, NZIFF Artistic Director.

Our centerpiece this year is... Prime Minister 

Directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, the documentary takes a highly personal, behind the scenes look at former PM Jacinda Ardern’s time at the helm of Aotearoa. Using candid voiceovers and home videos, the doco charts her time in office as she navigates imposter syndrome, first time motherhood, unprecedented crises, and a sharp turn in NZ's political landscape.

“World leaders have rarely been captured with as much intimacy... As a portrait of struggles in the seat of power, the film presses all the right emotional buttons.”—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety.

An NZIFF multi-trip pass is the best way to secure your seat - learn more here.

See more films and save with an NZIFF Multipass

Multipasses are the best-value way to experience the Festival. Available in both 5-Trip and 10-Trip options (with student pricing in select centres), they give you the flexibility to curate your own NZIFF experience and save while doing it.

In Auckland and Wellington, all 10-Trip Multipasses come with Earlybird access, which means:

• Exclusive entry to our ticket pre-sale before general sales open

• A digital NZIFF programme delivered to your inbox as soon as it's released

With some of our most in-demand titles likely to sell out fast, Earlybird access gives you the best chance to secure seats to your top picks if you're in Auckland or Wellington.

Whether you're planning a few highlights or a full Festival immersion, there’s a Multipass to suit your schedule and your budget:

• 5-Trip Multipass

• 5-Trip Student Multipass

• 10-Trip Multipass (includes Earlybird access in Auckland and Wellington only)

New This Year: Online Booking with Your Multipass 

In Auckland and Wellington, Multipass holders can now book their tickets directly through our website - no need to visit the cinema in person. We’re excited to roll this out to more centres in the future as we continue improving the

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