Sara Shahverdi’s unique position as a councilwoman in rural Iran invites the audience to share her triumphs and setbacks as she uplifts young women and ruffles conservative feathers by advocating for gender equality.
Festival Programme
Films — by Genre
- Action
- Actors and Theatre
- Animation
- Art
- Based on Books
- Cannes
- Comedy
- Coming of Age
- Crime
- Documentary
- Education
- Environment
- Family Ties
- Fantasy
- Films about Films
- Historical
- Horror
- Human Rights
- Indigenous
- LGBTQIA+
- Love Stories
- Music
- Māori/Pacific
- Politics
- Religion
- Rural Life
- Sci-Fi
- Seniors
- Sex and Sexuality
- Slow Cinema
- Sports and Recreation
- Style
- Thriller
- Travel
- WTF?
- War Zones
- Women Make Movies
- Writers
Politics
It Was Just an Accident
Yek tasadef sadeh
A masterpiece of cinematic invention and political bravery, Jafar Panahi’s rousing new film deservedly won the Cannes Palme d’Or and opens NZIFF 2025 on a powerful and inspiring note.
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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.
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.
Two Prosecutors
Dva prokurora
Fresh from Cannes acclaim comes a gripping, mordantly absurd and meticulous study of the inverted logic of state terror from master chronicler of tyranny Sergei Loznitsa.