English

A critical hit in Cannes, Charlotte Wells infuses her exquisite debut with nostalgia and tenderness as she teases out the melancholic undercurrents of a loving father-daughter relationship.

This refreshingly authentic depiction of finding love right on your doorstep, and from unlikely directions, abounds with humour and the transformative power of song.

Curated by Malcolm Turner, animation programmer at NZIFF since 1988, and director of the Melbourne International Animation Festival.

A heart-breaking story detailing Faʻamoana John Luafutu’s time as a state ward. Using his voice for the voiceless, Luafutu vitally brings this story to light. A must-watch for all New Zealanders.

This inspirational Australian documentary invites us into the world of trauma cleaning as run by the larger-than-life personality of Sandra Pankhurst, whose response to the chaos of death and squalor is simple kindness.

Marie Kreutzer’s bold and subversive costume drama features an imperious Vicky Krieps as the restless Empress Elisabeth of Austria, struggling to break free from the restrictive confines of courtly life.

Pain is the ultimate pleasure and surgery the new sex in David Cronenberg’s latest provocation, a throwback to his squeamish body-horrors that shocked and delighted NZIFF audiences decades ago.

Karen Gillan delivers two knockout performances in Riley Stearns’ hilarious, ultra-deadpan comedy about a woman and her nightmarishly perfect clone who must battle it out to be the last one standing.

An art-school-dropout drowning in student debt, Aubrey Plaza discovers she has a talent for credit card fraud in this gripping Sundance breakout from first-time writer/director John Patton Ford.

Discover the wild story of pioneering English photographer and great-uncle of cinema Eadweard Muybridge in this fascinating documentary that sifts legend from truth.

This stunning documentary portrait of French volcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft is skilfully constructed from their amazing archival footage collected from numerous volcanic expeditions in the 1970s and 80s.

Cult favourite Peter Strickland channels Spinal Tap in this deliciously outlandish send-up of artistic pretension at an institute dedicated to the culinary arts. “A feast of hilarity and horror.” — Time Out

Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain headline a star cast dealing with the fallout from a debauched weekend in Morocco in John Michael McDonagh’s blackly comic skewering of privilege.

Environmental issues and pop-culture collide in vibrant textural colours and forms in this intimate portrait of the life, loves and friendships of Aotearoa New Zealand artist Geoff Dixon.

With unprecedented access, filmmakers Noel Smyth and Fergus Grady lift the lid on the secretive Gloriavale Christian Community following a family of survivors searching for justice.

A documentary deep-dive into the life and legacy of legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen told through the prism of his most anthemic and well-known song.

A family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving in a rundown lower Manhattan apartment, Stephen Karam’s piercingly haunting adaptation of his own play explores the hidden dread beneath family bonds.

Science in Dark Times follows the work of a remarkable woman, Dame Juliet Gerrard, Jacinda Ardern's Chief Science Advisor, through three years of dramatic crises, including the Whakaari White Island eruption and the unfolding of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A young Hawaiian woman escapes an abusive relationship and discovers her roots in this wild Aotearoa-produced Indigenous adventure set in the rugged wilderness of Kauai, Hawaii.

Eight Pan-Asian female filmmakers’ powerful anthology film illuminates the immigrant experience in Aotearoa New Zealand through the lives of eight Asian women connected by the house they call home.

An unconventional portrait of an unconventional author that not only chronicles the extraordinary life, work and legacy of Kurt Vonnegut but also his decades long friendship with the filmmaker who set out to document it.

Delving into Patricia Highsmith’s personal writings and accounts of friends and family, this doco sheds new light on the writer behind such classics as Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr Ripley and Carol.

Meet Marcel, a tiny talking shell, on a big-hearted big-screen stop-motion adventure, as tender and funny as it is insightful and poignant.

Tennis legend John McEnroe dishes on the highs and lows of his epic career and how his drive for perfection nearly broke him in this engaging doco packed with amazing archival footage and rare insight.

A vivid first-hand portrait of the New York music scene of the early 00s featuring era-defining groups like The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem.

A young woman with dangerous powers escapes a mental asylum and lets loose on the seedy neon-lit streets of New Orleans in this mind-bending fantasy-adventure from the director of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (NZIFF 2015).

We are delighted to open this year’s edition with the World Premiere of Tearepa Kahi’s film Muru.

With shades of The Imposter (NZIFF 2012) and Three Identical Strangers (NZIFF 2018) this wildly entertaining Scottish documentary delves into the outrageous deception that shook a Glasgow high school back in the 1990s.

This staggering, fly-on-the-wall portrait of the charismatic anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, filmed in secret following an assassination attempt on his life, is one of the year’s most electrifying films.

Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s one-of-a-kind feature is an Afro-futurist science-fiction musical centred on a grieving coltan miner and an intersex hacker who find liberation through technology.

Check out the year’s best New Zealand short films as chosen by guest selector, Florian Habicht.

Check out the best Māori and Pasifika short films in this year's Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts Competition.

You’ll never look at diamonds the same way after seeing Jason Kohn’s stunning exposé of the true value of these precious gems and the secretive industry that sets their price.

Path 99 combines planetarium immersion with an enveloping electronic soundtrack, showing us how, now more than ever, it is crucial that we all have our heads in the clouds.

Seventeen-year-old boxer Jim carries the hopes and dreams of his father on his shoulders, but his growing relationship with local takatāpui Whetu forces him to confront the truth about his sexuality and choose his own future.

Andrew Semans’ deliciously unhinged thriller stars Rebecca Hall as a single mom with a dark secret that threatens to overwhelm her cosy corporate lifestyle.

A French-Korean adoptee returns to Seoul, a home she has never known, and over the course of several visits begins to process her complicated relationship with her biological family and country of birth.

In this world premiere Auckland-made feature, a disconnected young woman discovers the world of ASMR and befriends a local streamer, leading to blurred lines between friendship and obsession.

A weekend getaway becomes a holiday from hell for a Danish family in this mercilessly unnerving horror flick from Danish director Christian Tafdrup.

Based on Denis Johnson’s cult novel, Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn star in this heady and alluring romantic thriller from NZIFF fave Claire Denis, directing her second English-language feature.

Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris deliver brooding performances as predator becomes prey in up-and-coming director Thomas M. Wright’s dark and intense Australian true crime drama.

Gilded privilege comes a cropper when abruptly confronted by less luxurious reality in this brilliantly orchestrated satire awarded the Palme d’Or 2022.

Director Chloe Okuno and lead actress Maika Monroe bring a fresh femme perspective to this heart-stopping 70s-style psychological thriller dripping with Hitchcockian voyeurism and rampant paranoia.

To sit, to listen to witness. Starting points for a multi-layered journey bring you to the brink of interaction between cultures, then, now, and what may be. Set in various flashpoints in time.

Costa Botes' gentle, yet eye-opening new documentary delves into bovine life on a Cambridge farm where offbeat cow whisperer Andrew Johnstone tends the herd in his own idiosyncratic ways.

A gloriously animated fantasy reimagining of Anne Frank’s story from the lauded director of The Congress (NZIFF 2013) and Waltz with Bashir (NZIFF 2008).

Florian Habicht’s debut feature film screened at NZIFF in 2003 and has become a cult classic. This new colourised print had its Aotearoa premiere in Wellington at NZIFF 2021.