First Films Announced for NZIFF 2017
Already we’re at the point when eight of our secrets need be secrets no more. We’re delighted that three of our first announcements, works from three high profile New Zealand filmmakers (and well-established NZIFF contributors), testify to the great strength of New Zealand documentaries on cinema screens in 2017.
It will be a great year for fiction too, make no mistake. We whet your appetites with four hot new features currently making waves in their home markets before heading your way in July.
Spookers
In this funny and improbably charming documentary Florian Habicht looks behind the curtain to show us the real lives of the frighteners at the infamous and hugely popular horror theme park at the old Kingseat Hospital.
My Year with Helen
With unique access to high-ranking candidate Helen Clark, award-winning filmmaker Gaylene Preston casts a wry eye on proceedings as the United Nations chooses a new Secretary General.
Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web
As Annie Goldson’s impressively detailed documentary clearly sets out the battle between Dotcom and the US Government and entertainment industry, it goes to the heart of ownership, privacy and piracy in the digital age.
Bill Frisell: A Portrait
The perfect balance of talking heads and sustained performance, Emma Franz’s documentary delivers an entrancing two hours in the company of jazz guitarist Bill Frisell.
A Ghost Story
A simple story told with the simplest means, A Ghost Story tracks the progress of a ghost who can’t let go of the woman he loved and the house they shared, evoking a profoundly moving sense of existential disquiet.
Lady Macbeth
Florence Pugh is mesmerising as she transmutes from nervous bride to femme fatale in this bracing British period drama based on a 19th-century Russian classic.
The Lost City of Z
Charlie Hunnam makes a commanding flawed hero as British Amazon explorer Percy Fawcett in a sweeping giant screen epic, filmed with rare intelligence by writer/director James Gray. With Sienna Miller and Robert Pattinson.
The Untamed
Love triangle drama and erotic bio-sci-fi thrills meet in a truly bizarre exploration of oppressive machismo and liberating sexual abandon from Mexican director Amat Escalante.
NZIFF’s Autumn Events series is currently underway in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
The full NZIFF programme will be available from Tuesday 27 June for Auckland, and Friday 30 June for Wellington. NZIFF starts in Auckland on 20 July and in Wellington from 28 July in 2016.
