Here are the six films I've enjoyed the most this year plus the six I'm most looking forward to seeing. Also look out for great short films by Jennifer Reeder and Don Hertzfeldt, each a mini-masterpiece, plus Mark Rappaport's entertaining cine-essays on 50s Hollywood.
Films — by Collection
- Darren Bevan
- David Larsen
- Films for Teens
- James Croot
- Letterboxd
- Meet the Filmmakers: Auckland
- Meet the Filmmakers: Wellington
- Patricia Watson
- Rebecca McMillan
- Staff Picks: Angela Murphy
- Staff Picks: Bill Gosden
- Staff Picks: Cianna Canning
- Staff Picks: Felicity Drace
- Staff Picks: Hayden Ellis
- Staff Picks: Jenna Udy
- Staff Picks: Kailey Carruthers
- Staff Picks: Kate McArthur
- Staff Picks: Lisa Bomash
- Staff Picks: Lynn Smart
- Staff Picks: Megan Duffy
- Staff Picks: Michael McDonnell
- Staff Picks: Olivia Young
- Staff Picks: Poppy Granger
- Staff Picks: Rachael Deller-Pincott
- Staff Picks: Sandra Reid
- Staff Picks: Sibilla Paparatti
- Staff Picks: Tom Ainge-Roy
- The Lumière Reader
- Tim Wong
- Wellington Film Society's Picks of NZIFF 2015
Staff Picks: Michael McDonnell
![The Lobster](/assets/resized/sm/upload/gg/ha/go/4i/THE%20LOBSTER%20KEY%20-%20Photo%20Despina%20Spyrou-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=76f3bb0e0d)
The Lobster
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth) casts Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly and Léa Seydoux in a surreal English-language fable set in a world where singles are forced to couple up or be turned into animals.
![Tangerine](/assets/resized/sm/upload/m6/r2/hb/jx/Tangerine_Key%20Still%20Photo%20courtesy%20of%20Magnolia%20Pictures-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=a52909e6c4)
Tangerine
Shot on iPhone and looking fantastic, Sean Baker’s R-rated comedy storms the streets, doughnut shops, brothels and clubs of West Hollywood as two transgender BFFs hunt down the ‘bitch’ who did them wrong.
![The Assassin](/assets/resized/sm/upload/hy/by/8o/ac/ASSASSIN%20(THE)_KEY%20STILL-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=eea54924c0)
The Assassin
Nie Yinniang
Shu Qi plays the eponymous killer in this ravishingly beautiful foray into historical martial arts territory from Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien. Winner of the Best Director Award at Cannes.
![Embrace of the Serpent](/assets/resized/sm/upload/pg/68/8z/wb/Embrace%20of%20the%20Serpent_2%20%C2%A9%20Andres%20C%C3%B3rdoba-credit-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=a72c2b50a1)
Embrace of the Serpent
El abrazo de la serpiente
A lone shaman inducts two European ethnographers into the mysteries of the Amazon in this breathtakingly photographed tale of exploration, vividly reimagined from the indigenous point of view.