This has been my first experience of NZIFF, after travelling over from the UK at the start of May to work here with the team. I have found both Wellington and NZIFF amazing places to be, bursting with creativity and a uniqueness that you won’t find anywhere else. Seeing the process from start to finish, watching the programme unfold has been astounding, and I feel very lucky to have been a part of it. My love of films has been amplified and this leads to the list below, filled with in my opinion both the unmissables that I have watched and the films that I must see!
Films — by Collection
- Cactuslab
- Dominic Corry
- Dunedin Film Society: Raphael Richter-Gravier
- Letterboxd
- Staff Picks: Andrew Harrison
- Staff Picks: Ant Timpson
- Staff Picks: Bill Gosden
- Staff Picks: Caroline Palmer
- Staff Picks: Cianna Canning
- Staff Picks: Collette Wright
- Staff Picks: Felicity Drace
- Staff Picks: Hedda ten Holder
- Staff Picks: Jo Scott
- Staff Picks: Kailey Carruthers
- Staff Picks: Kate McGee
- Staff Picks: Lynn Smart
- Staff Picks: Melanie Rae
- Staff Picks: Michael McDonnell
- Staff Picks: Nic Marshall
- Staff Picks: Nick Paris
- Staff Picks: Rebecca McMillan
- Staff Picks: Rosie Jones
- Staff Picks: Sandra Reid
- Staff Picks: Tim Wong
- Wellington Film Society
Staff Picks: Rosie Jones
![Midnight Special](/assets/resized/sm/upload/i8/vm/fv/cr/MS-02234%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=8ec0ee3a33)
Midnight Special
Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst and newcomer Jaeden Lieberher star in this dazzling, genre-defying sci-fi/chase movie from the director of Mud and Take Shelter.
![A Flickering Truth](/assets/resized/sm/upload/x8/ab/gz/4d/JSB_1829%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=c7a3b11729)
A Flickering Truth
New Zealand filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly’s moving portrayal of one man’s journey to restore thousands of hours of film heritage in post-Taliban Afghanistan, a journey that uncovers the very nearly forgotten history of his ravaged country.
![The Daughter](/assets/resized/sm/upload/9x/sp/m2/9i/KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=13e9dfd096)
The Daughter
The most lauded Australian drama of the last year, this bold, superbly acted debut from acclaimed theatre director Simon Stone reimagines Ibsen’s The Wild Duck in a contemporary small town.
![Neruda](/assets/resized/sm/upload/3m/k1/kt/1l/neruda-gael-garcia-bernal%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=256fed2dd7)
Neruda
Not your conventional biopic, this enthralling dramatic exploration of the legacy of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda conjures up a fiction in which he is pursued into political exile by an incompetent detective played by Gael García Bernal.
![A Perfect Day](/assets/resized/sm/upload/oa/xm/z8/4s/APD_012-8675%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=877675ab45)
A Perfect Day
Crisp photography, boisterous tunes and a stacked deck of affable company make this funny, incisive comedy a memorable entry for the war genre. With Benicio Del Toro and Tim Robbins.
![Theeb](/assets/resized/sm/upload/id/rr/ag/57/theeb_05%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=06a81b0acd)
Theeb
Set in 1916, this suspenseful, historically freighted Jordanian film concerns a watchful young Bedouin obliged to guide a British officer through the spectacular desert of Wadi Rum. Best Foreign Language Oscar Nominee 2016.
![A War](/assets/resized/sm/upload/1j/kh/g5/7h/KEY%20Dar%20Salim%20and%20Pilou%20Asb%C3%A6k%20in%20A%20WAR,%20a%20Magnolia%20Pictures%20release.%20Photo%20courtesy%20of%20Magnolia%20Pictures.%20-%20Copy-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=4770bd8dbf)
A War
Krigen
“Propulsive action drama meets philosophical rumination in A War, a superlative Danish take on the Middle East-set soldier story – think American Sniper by way of Borgen.” — Kevin Maher, The Times
![Poi E: The Story of Our Song](/assets/resized/sm/upload/0y/x4/t7/ep/0F9A7085crop-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=fe0ea1b3e6)
Poi E: The Story of Our Song
NZIFF 2016 opens with the World Premiere screenings of the Kiwi feel-good movie of the year: Tearepa Kahi’s richly researched celebration of Dalvanius Prime and the many rivers that flowed into the making of ‘Poi E’.
![The Red Turtle](/assets/resized/sm/upload/8t/8r/va/pb/latortuerouge04-web-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=447d422475)
The Red Turtle
La Tortue rouge
Studio Ghibli’s first international co-production is a ravishing castaway fable that combines beauty, mystery, drama and heartbreak – with not a word spoken. It’s a triumph for animator Michael Dudok de Wit.