Staff Picks: Cass Hesom-Williams

Of the handful of NZIFF 2014 films I’ve been fortunate enough to see so far, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya was the most affecting – while Studio Ghibli films are always pretty special, this one is a treasure. Moving from spiritual to cerebral (though perhaps both for some), Particle Fever shed light on the mysteries of the Large Hadron Collider (which I still haven’t quite managed to get my head around). I love photography so am looking forward to seeing Sebastião Selgado’s work on the big screen in The Salt of the Earth, Jane Bown’s portraits in Looking for Light and NZ artist Gavin Hipkins’ take on Samuel Butler’s utopian satire in Erewhon. Being a Raymond Chandler fan, I’m keen to meet detective Zhang in Black Coal, Thin Ice, and am also looking forward to another urban noir thriller made closer to home, REALITi. I’m expecting to scale interesting heights at Manakamana, while Tender – a small film exploring a big theme – will no doubt bring me back to earth. I’m also intrigued to see if Jimi: All Is By My Side; Pulp: a Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets and 20,000 Days on Earth can be added to my list of adored music films that make favourite old songs feel all shiny and new again (every single time I watch them).