This very special retrospective pays tribute to the late Bill Gosden, ONZM, NZIFF’s director and public face for nearly 40 years. While it can in no way do justice to the breadth and diversity of his vision and personal film taste, we hope this modest collection of past Festival highlights captures a morsel of what he loved about movies, the filmmakers he held in highest esteem and what he looked for – and stood for – as a curator of cinema.
Not every film we wanted to show in Bill’s memory was available to us – such is the nature of programming, which we know Bill of all people would’ve understood. Where possible, we’ve selected films he wrote original programme notes for (and these are included) or was openly passionate about.
Most of these films and their directors also appear in The Gosden Years, a book conceived by Bill during the last months of his life on the Festival’s storied history, its major role in Aotearoa film culture, and the artists and personnel who were a part of his remarkable run at the helm. Our screenings coincide with the book’s release and the one-year anniversary of Bill’s death in November.
If you’d like to leave your own tribute to Bill, visit rememberingbillgosden.nz
