Oscar-winning war chronicler Mstyslav Chernov embeds with a Ukrainian unit in their last-ditch effort to reclaim a village, in a nerve-shredding reckoning with the Russian invasion’s relentless toll.
Festival Programme
Films — by Language
English

Anchor Me - The Don McGlashan Story
A documentary tribute to one of the nation’s best loved songwriters, charting Don McGlashan’s storied career from arty punk upstart to one of the strongest voices in the national identity of Aotearoa.

The Ballad of Wallis Island
What would you do if you won the lottery? Charles answers the age-old question by inviting his favourite former folk duo to his remote island, where the estranged band members prove that some flames never die...

Bati
Framed with enchanting Fijian landscapes and carefully decorated with beautiful Fijian people and culture. A story about familiarity, growth, responsibility, love, respect and boxing… told in true Fiji style.
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Blue Moon
A washed-up songwriter drowns his sorrows as his former collaborator triumphantly opens Oklahoma! on Broadway. A career-peak performance by Ethan Hawke powers Richard Linklater’s theatrical drama.

Bring Them Down
Set amongst the rugged countryside of Western Ireland, Christopher Abbot (Poor Things) and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) deliver standout performances in a thriller that is as shocking as the landscape is serene.

Chain Reactions
A diverse ensemble of creatives including Stephen King, Takashi Miike and Karyn Kusama illuminate the enduring cultural legacy of Tobe Hooper’s low-budget 1974 slasher The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Ebony and Ivory
If you're looking for the wildest film of the fest this year, look no further! Ebony and Ivory is here on a nugget slide to melt your brain with absurd humour that becomes so delirious that it turns into a nightmare.

Eddington
A bracingly audacious political satire, Ari Aster’s modern-day Western utilises an A-list cast (Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler) to ruthlessly skewer the polarisation of post-pandemic America.

Endless Cookie
Canadian animator Seth Scriver travels to remote northern Manitoba to make a film about his indigenous half-brother Pete, delivering a zany cartoon portrait of First Nations life that defies description.

Familiar Touch
Sarah Friedland’s award-winning debut is a dignified portrayal of a woman coping with Alzheimer's disease. A mesmerizing central performance by Kathleen Chalfant anchors a film replete with delicacy.

GRACE A Prayer For Peace
A portrait of one of Aotearoa’s greatest living artists by one of our greatest documentary filmmakers. You should expect something special, and that’s what you get.
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Hysteria
A film shoot sparks fear and anger when a holy book is desecrated in the name of art in this intense German thriller, fanning the flames of contemporary conflict into a taut and tangly blaze.

Lesbian Space Princess
Set in a gay-laxy far, far away this crowd pleasing and proudly queer Aussie adult animation delights with its vivid, candy-coloured palette, kinky sense of humour and catchy, upbeat musical numbers.

Life in One Chord
Punk renegade Shayne Carter (Straitjacket Fits, Dimmer) takes us on an iconoclastic tour through a career of highs and lows from suburban Dunedin to the heights of international fame and back again.

The Love That Remains
Ástin sem eftir er
An intimate, rapturously-lensed exploration of a family struggling with a parental separation, Hlynur Pálmason’s mosaic of snapshots, dreams and memories finds gentle profundity in the slow march of time.

Lurker
Writer Alex Russell, whose credits include small screen hits Beef and The Bear, graduates to the big screen with this darkly compelling thriller about a desperate wannabe who attaches himself to a singer on the rise.

The Mastermind
A perfectly rumpled Josh O’Connor’s criminal ambitions go awry in Kelly Reichardt’s arthouse art-heist film showcasing the American master of cinematic minimalism at her absolute best.

My Father's Shadow
Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù gives a masterful performance as a stern but loving father that takes his children on an impromptu day trip to Lagos to recover a debt in the midst of a political upheaval.

Ngā Whanaunga: Aotearoa New Zealand's Best 2025 Highlights
A highlight selection of the best short films from Ngā Whanaunga: Aotearoa New Zealand's Best 2025, including all award winners, will screen in the regions.

Not Only Fred Dagg
For over 40 years, the iconic John Clarke tickled the funny bones of Australian and New Zealand audiences. Now, in this intimately produced documentary, hear his story in his own words.
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Notes from a Fish
An aspiring novelist finds inspiration gurgling down the drain when his unconventional muse, a tropical fish, goes missing in this darkly absurd romp through the mean-ish streets of Auckland’s inner suburbs.

OBEX
A reclusive nerd must enter a video game to fight a demon and rescue his dog in this quirky feast of horror, comedy and sci-fi with old-school gaming aesthetics thrown into a blender with Lynchian dread.
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One to One: John & Yoko
This immersive portrait of the time John and Yoko spent living in Greenwich Village is a vivid time capsule of America in the early 70s. A time of extreme political polarisation which may seem uncannily familiar.

Orwell: 2+2=5
Raoul Peck, the acclaimed documentary chronicler of power in America, looks to George Orwell’s writing of 1984 as a prescient guide to our modern era of Trumpian rule and reality manipulation.
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Peacock
Pfau - Bin ich echt?
Mattias spends his days pretending to be someone else, offering companionship to strangers in need. Bernhard Wenger’s unsettling drama quietly dissects loneliness, identity and the cost of always performing.

Plainclothes
In 90s New York, a young police officer must entrap and arrest gay men whose only “crime” is their sexuality, but when he falls for one of his targets the rookie risks losing his career and family in pursuit of love.

Predators
This gripping Sundance documentary re-examines the rise and fall of mid-00s hidden camera show To Catch a Predator in a damning investigation into the murky ethics of true crime entertainment.

Prime Minister
The uncharted highs and crashing lows of Jacinda Ardern’s time at the helm of Aotearoa get their due in an intimate-access international documentary about state power and human vulnerability.

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
As a Gaza native, photojournalist Fatma Hassona documents aspects of the war in Palestine that foreign journalists cannot access. Her tenacious Palestinian voice will not be silenced in this poignant documentary.

Riefenstahl
With unfettered access to Leni Reifenstahl’s personal archive, documentarian Andres Veiel delivers an extraordinarily discerning portrait of the infamous filmmaker that allows audiences to draw their own conclusions.

Sentimental Value
Affeksjonsverdi
Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his arthouse hit The Worst Person in the World, this piercing and ecstatically moving reflection on family and memory stars Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, and Elle Fanning.

The Shrouds
David Cronenberg’s sardonic self-portrait of his own struggle with grief is couched within a chilly and unsettling story of a tech-savant and his morbid invention which brings bereavement into the app age.

Sorry, Baby
Irreverent humour and empathy in the eye of a storm are key to resilience in Eva Victor’s Sundance-celebrated debut, in which an abuse of power throws a lit student’s existence into disarray.

Splitsville
A madcap comedy about the perils of open relationships from creative duo Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin that had audiences at Cannes roaring at every twist and refusal to take itself at all seriously.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Frequently cited as the greatest horror film ever made, Tobe Hooper’s raw, deeply disturbing journey into a sweaty, grimy, all-too-real hell still has the power to shake you to your core.

TOITŪ Visual Sovereignty
Unprecedented insight into the curation of the Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art exhibition reveals the struggle for Māori artistic sovereignty within the structures of Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural institutions.

Twinless
A grieving brother finds an unlikely connection at a support group for siblings who have lost a twin, but his burgeoning bromance threatens to turn into something darker in this uncomfortably sharp-witted comedy.

Urchin
This gritty and empathetic portrait of addiction and the self-destruction that comes along with it is filled with pitch black humour. Frank Dillane puts on a masterclass as he takes his character to rock bottom.

War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us
Seven women reflect on the emotional cataclysm of World War II in Dame Gaylene Preston’s landmark contribution to the collective memory of Aotearoa, which has lost none of its raw power on its 30th anniversary.

The Weed Eaters
Cannibalism, murder and betrayal are on the table in this riotous NZ horror comedy. Four holidaying friends come across a strain of weed that gives them the most extreme case of the munchies ever recorded.

Went Up the Hill
An unsettling, sinister slow-burn thriller, Samuel Van Grinsven unites rising star Dacre Montgomery with Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps and New Zealand’s own Sarah Peirse for a supernatural chiller like no other.

Workmates
Sophie Henderson and Curtis Vowell draw on real-life experiences for this delightful and nuanced romantic dramedy throwing a welcome spotlight on the legendary theatre spaces of Tāmaki Makaurau.

Workshop - Pou Kōrero with Leela Varghese & Emma Hough Hobbs
Visiting filmmakers Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs unpack their collaborative process in this animation focused workshop perfect for young animators or seasoned creatives to learn more about the craft.