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Big name actors get plenty of time in the limelight, but who's making waves behind the camera? These internationally-acclaimed directors are ones to watch, and they all have films at this year's festival. 

It Was Just an Accident 2025
Yek tasadef sadeh
Directed by Jafar Panahi

Legendary Iranian director Jafar Panahi, is just the fourth director ever to snag the top prizes at the Venice, Berlin, and Cannes film festivals. He took home the Golden Lion in 2000 for The Circle, and the Golden Bear in 2015 for Tehran Taxi, both of which have screened at the Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival. So it’s a fitting, full circle tribute to “one of the greatest artists of contemporary cinema and one of its most empathetic and committed humanists,” that this year's opening night film is the rousing 2025 Palme d’Or winning It Was Just an Accident.

A bigger accomplishment than any film festival top prize, is that despite travel bans, house arrests, imprisonment, and a 20-year ban from filmmaking, Panahi has never shied from his courageous commitment to “crafting self-reflexive works about political, artistic and personal freedom.” Ruled as “propaganda against the system” by the Iranian government, all of

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Love animation? We’ve got you covered at NZIFF! This year’s lineup features the freshest animated flicks of 2025 plus the return of a Japanese classic.

Endless Cookie

Colourful, wacky, comically offbeat and slightly psychedelic, Endless Cookie looks at the lives of First Nations people in Canada. It’s a personal story for animator Seth Scriver and his Indigenous half-brother Pete, as they mix absurdist moments with acknowledgement of mistreatment of First Nations people, lessons from the past and ongoing challenges in the present. 

Angel’s Egg

Described as ‘visual poetry’, this 1985 Japanese sci-fi fantasy follows a young girl with no belongings except a large egg she believes will hatch into an angel. When she meets a boy who challenges her outlook on life, the pair journey through the dystopian landscape together, looking for answers in a monochrome world. Experimental and packed with symbolism, audiences around the world have long debated the meaning of this cult classic.

Maya Give Me a Title

When master of whimsy, Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), spent long stretches overseas for work, he started making cutout stop motion animations as a creative way to keep in touch with his daughter, Maya. Guided by Maya’s

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This year’s NZIFF line-up dives into queer lives with heat, heartbreak and humour. From tender crushes to messy breakups, bad decisions to moments of bold clarity, these are the stories that make us feel seen, understood, and maybe just a little exposed. 

Twinless

The Sundance breakout that went viral after a leaked sex scene forced the festival to pull it from online. It starts as a deadpan comedy about twin grief but quickly spirals into something stranger, darker and way more erotic, as a support group connection turns into obsession. Smart, sexy and unforgettable.

Baby

Brazilian director Marcelo Caetano captures São Paulo from all angles in Baby, the tale of a tumultuous partnership in love and business between a young offender fresh out of youth detention, and an older sex worker with a side hustle in drug dealing and pick-pocketing.

Cactus Pears 

Sensual, tender and beautifully filmed, Cactus Pears tells the story of two childhood friends who reunite at a funeral and soon realise they want to share a future together. It also marks the first Indian film to win the prestigious World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance.

Enzo

Sick of academia, bougie Enzo decides to try his hand as

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Big name actors get plenty of time in the limelight, but who's making waves behind the camera? These internationally-acclaimed directors are ones to watch, and they all have films at this year's festival. 

It Was Just an Accident 2025
Yek tasadef sadeh
Directed by Jafar Panahi

Legendary Iranian director Jafar Panahi, is just the fourth director ever to snag the top prizes at the Venice, Berlin, and Cannes film festivals. He took home the Golden Lion in 2000 for The Circle, and the Golden Bear in 2015 for Tehran Taxi, both of which have screened at the Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival. So it’s a fitting, full circle tribute to “one of the greatest artists of contemporary cinema and one of its most empathetic and committed humanists,” that this year's opening night film is the rousing 2025 Palme d’Or winning It Was Just an Accident.

A bigger accomplishment than any film festival top prize, is that despite travel bans, house arrests, imprisonment, and a 20-year ban from filmmaking, Panahi has never shied from his courageous commitment to “crafting self-reflexive works about political, artistic and personal freedom.” Ruled as “propaganda against the system” by the Iranian government, all of

Continue reading…