News

The 2026 festival may be over, but Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival is proud to present a series of special one-off screenings of Ken Russell's The Devils, one of the most controversial films of all time.

Following from its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, we're excited to bring the recut and remastered version of The Devils to New Zealand screens for the very first time, offering an unrestricted and uninhibited version of Russell's original vision.

Billed the coolest film on the Croisette by Deadline earlier this year, the film went through a lenghty censorship battle upon original release in both the US and the UK, with the film gaining a cult-like following. 

This series of screenings will be the first time audiences in Aotearoa will ever have seen Russell's intended version, in all it's hallucinatory glory. 

You can watch the trailer here and see below to book tickets:

AUCKLAND:

Rialto Cinemas Newmarket, Wednesday October 21 6pm | Book here
The Hollywood Avondale, Wednesday October 21 7.30pm | Book here

WELLINGTON:

The Embassy Theatre, Wednesday October 21 6.15pm | Book here

CHRISTCHURCH:

Lumière Cinemas, Wednesday October 21 6pm | Book here
Lumière Cinemas, Wednesday October

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Congratulations to our Fresh (debut films section) and Frames (documentary section) winners!

 As voted by our jury, Fresh Competition winners are:

🎬 Fresh Competition Award - 9 Temples to Heaven ($1000)

🎬 Fresh Competition Award - Elephants in the Fog ($1000)

and joint winners:

🎬 Fresh Competition Award - La Gradiva ($500)

🎬 Fresh Competition Award - Goodbye, Cruel World ($500)

As voted by you:

🏅Fresh Audience Award: Elephants in the Fog

As voted by our jury, the winners of our Frames Competition, proudly presented by @docplay, are:

🎬 DocPlay Frames Competition Award: Landmarks ($1000)

🎬 DocPlay Frames Competition Award: Memory ($1000)

And voted by you:

🏅Frames Audience Award: The Seoul Guardians

Congratulations to the winners of the NZIFF 2026 Ngā Whanaunga Aotearoa: New Zealand’s Best Awards for short films. Judging by the standard of all this year’s entries and the winners, the future of New Zealand film is looking good!  

Umbrella Best Short Film Award ($5,000) 
The Whole Thing by Calvin Sang

Letterboxd Audience Award 
The Whole Thing by Calvin Sang

Auckland Live Spirit of the Civic Award ($4,000)
Arrival by Ahmed Osman

Park Road Post Award for Māori Pasifika Talent ($2,000)
Todd Karehana, director of Socks

Canon Emerging Talent Award (EOS Camera and Lens of the value of $4,500)
Isaac Ieremia, director of Ciggie

Wi Kuki Kaa Memorial Award for Best Performance to a Māori Pasifika Talent ($5,000)
Keporah Torrance for Kurī by Ana Chaya Scotney

Best Artistic Contribution
Allan George, editor of Tall Hours by Sophie Black

Special Mention
Giovanna Varea, for her performance in Daunitukutuku by Tumeli Tuqota

Updated: 20/08

But wait, there’s more! We’ve just added a whole week of encore screenings and late addition films for our Wellington film fanatics.

Check out what we’ve got scheduled from Monday August 24 until Sunday August 30 in each of our five Wellington cinemas: 

Paper Tiger
A crowd favourite at Cannes this year, starring Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, this film follows a suburban New York family who get caught up with the Russian Mob.

Perfect Strangers
Director Gaylene Preston describes this 2003 movie starring Sam Neill as her “wild child”. It’s easy to see why in this tense exploration of the fine line between love and pursuit, romance and danger, fear and obsession. 

The Friend’s House is Here
In Tehran’s underground art scene, two young women build a blissful world of freedom and sisterhood. But when their creative circle is exposed, they must fight to save each other. 

Congo Boy
In Bangui, Central African Republic, 17 year-old Robert dreams of a career in music, but both his parents are thrown into prison and he is left to look after his four younger siblings while remaining determined to follow his dream.

Looking for Alibrandi
A classic Aussie panelwagon-angst coming-of-age movie from 2000 that’s funny, relatable and achingly sad at the same time. Now restored in 4K.

Extra Geography
A witty, sharply observed coming-of-age comedy about two inseparable teenage girls at an English boarding school whose grand plan to "fall in love" begins to test

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