Films — by Collection

Staff Picks: Sibilla Paparatti

A Festival nomad by trade, I started out at NZIFF in 2003 and after a two-year hiatus I’m back for more. Sundance, Berlinale, Venice and the other Festivals I’ve been to have nothing on us. Some of the titles below I have already seen and highly recommend (’71, Best of Enemies, Mommy). Some others I have missed somewhere else and hope to finally watch them here (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, James White, Mia madre, The Tribe). And then there are those new titles I want to see full stop. But the one thing I am REALLY looking forward to is going to The Civic for my very first time and experiencing The Kid with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra… oh boy, I can’t wait!!!!!

’71

Yann Demange

This nerve-racking wartime thriller from director Yann Demange and Black Watch writer Gregory Burke stars Jack O’Connell (Starred Up) as a lost British soldier hunted by both sides amid the mayhem of Belfast, 1971.

Best of Enemies

Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville

Anticipating the punch-counterpunch set-up of today’s TV punditry, but so much more incisive, the 1968 TV debates between liberal Gore Vidal and conservative William F. Buckley Jr resound again in this terrific documentary.

Mia madre

Nanni Moretti

In Nanni Moretti’s mix of wry comedy and sombre family drama, a woman strives to balance life and art as her mother’s health fails – and the actor in the film she’s directing (John Turturro) proves to be a handful.

Rams

Hrútar

Grímur Hákonarson

Handsomely shot for the giant screen, this story of feuding brothers in a remote valley in Iceland begins as an oddball comedy about sheep farming and grows into a moving tale about a priceless rural heritage under threat.

Seymour: An Introduction

Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke’s music-laden documentary ushers us into the company of octogenarian former concert pianist and tireless teacher Seymour Bernstein, and invites us to share his humour, vitality and penetrating wisdom.