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On Sunday 18 August, at the Closing Night of NZIFF 2024 in Auckland, the winners of the inaugural Fresh Competition and Frames Competitions were announced. These competition strands were created to draw attention to some of the best narrative feature and documentary debuts of the last 12 months.

The ten films in the Fresh Competition were judged by a jury comprising of Pulkit Anora (Filmmaker, New Zealand/India), Anu Rangachar (Producer and Programmer, India) and David White (Filmmaker, NZ).

The Main Award was awarded to Truong Minh Quy for his film Viet and Nam.

The jury said, "The Jury wishes to recognise Viet and Nam for its multi-layered ability to seamlessly merge political and personal narratives, while maintaining its stunning visual poetry and emotional depth."

A Special mention went to Mo Harawe for The Village Next to Paradise.

The jury said, "The jury wishes to recognise the film's ability to capture the grace and beauty of human resilience and its triumph of cinematic artistry against formidable odds."

The Audience Award was awarded to Oceans Are the Real Continents by Italian filmmaker Tommaso Santambrogio.

The eight films in the Frames Competitions were judged by a jury comprising of Donsaron Kovitvanitcha (Producer and

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Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival is pleased to announce the winners of New Zealand’s Best and Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts awards for 2024.

The five finalists for New Zealand’s Best were selected by Guest Selector Gerard Johnstone and the six finalists for Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts were selected by curators Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka) and Craig Fasi (Niue), as announced earlier this year.

The New Zealand’s Best 2024 jury awards were decided by the three-person jury of film producer Philippa Campbell, filmmaker Judah Finnigan and film critic Liam Maguren and were presented following the Auckland screening at ASB Waterfront Theatre, as part of the festival’s Aotearoa Film Focus Weekend on Sunday 18 August.

The New Zealand’s Best 2024 award winners are:

The NZIFF Patrons Award for Best Film and the $7500 cash prize: Director Vea Mafile’o for the film Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue

The Auckland Live Spirit of The Civic Award and $4000 cash prize: Awanui Simich-Pene for the film First Horse.
A previous recipient of this prestigious award is director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, whose debut feature We Were Dangerous opened the festival this year.

The Creative New Zealand Emerging Talent Award and cash prize

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Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) is pleased to announce 86 feature films and 19 shorts in the 2024 line-up. We will open in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington on 31 July before touring nine other centres across the country until 4 September.

The 2024 programme includes 12 New Zealand films, plus a special 30th anniversary screening of Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures.

NZIFF 2024 Artistic Director Paolo Bertolin says, “This year’s programme is a celebration of the diversity and plurality of contemporary cinema. Our audiences will enjoy films that move, thrill and keep them on the edge of their seats, while also having the opportunity to experience films that open conversations about the reality of the world today, asking necessary questions and probing into uncomfortable truths. Cinephiles will rejoice with the latest efforts from world-class masters and discoveries that signal new talents of tomorrow. 

“At the forefront of this rich mosaic is a contingent of productions from Aotearoa, showcasing a vibrant vitality equally present in features, documentaries and shorts. Jackson’s classic had its world premiere as the Opening Film of the 1994 festival, with then-Festival Director Bill Gosden hailing it as a ‘landmark in New Zealand cinema’. Soon after, it

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Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival is pleased to announce the selection of 16 films in the 2024 programme which are coming to the festival straight off the back of this year’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival. It is a showcase of the very best of international cinema, and includes celebrated directors and award-winning performances.

“These films represent a pinnacle of global cinema,” says NZIFF 2024 Artistic Director Paolo Bertolin. “We are excited to bring such a rich and varied selection to Aotearoa, and we know these films will inspire, challenge, and enchant our festival-goers.”

Featuring in the Big Nights strand as the Closing Night Film of NZIFF 2024 is The Substance, a satirical feminist body horror by Coralie Fargeat. Starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid, the film, which won Best Screenplay at Cannes, tells the story of a fading celebrity who uses a black-market drug to temporarily create a younger, better version of herself.

The programme’s Fresh strand features films from Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and Un Certain Regard sections. Good One by India Donaldson (daughter of New Zealand cinema legend Roger Donaldson) captures the dynamics of a father-daughter relationship during a backpacking trip in the Catskill Mountains.

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Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) is delighted to announce the line-up of exceptional New Zealand-made feature films, documentaries, and shorts in the 2024 programme, showcasing the increasingly rich talent and diverse storytelling in New Zealand filmmaking.

Twelve full-length films and 19 shorts make up the Māhutonga strand of our programme – a selection of stand-out New Zealand features and documentaries curated by 2024 Artistic Director Paolo Bertolin, Head of Programming Michael McDonnell, and Junior Programmers Amanda Jane Robinson and Huia Haupapa, and shorts selected by long-time co-curators Leo Koziol and Craig Fasi, and 2024 guest selector Gerard Johnstone. The Māhutonga strand is proudly supported by Creative New Zealand.

Bertolin says, “Aotearoa cinema has reached a defining crossroad. The 12 features and four combined programmes of shorts in Māhutonga reflect the diversity and wealth of subjects and styles in local storytelling. With their films, New Zealand filmmakers provide a vibrant kaleidoscope that enables audiences to look at the past and the present through distinctive perspectives.

“In this selection, our audiences will discover films that are entertaining, thought-provoking, and deeply affecting. Most of all, they will find a space for conversation and exchange on the beauty and complexity of life

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