Having been a keen attendee of the NZIFF, the opportunity of being an intern in the Auckland offices was too good to pass up. Getting an insight into the behind the scenes of NZIFF and how festivals are organised has been invaluable. I am fortunate enough to get a sneak-peek at the programme for 2016 and it is superb – especially if you are a fan (like me!) of films coming out of Cannes! I am a big fan of the stranger/darker/quirkier films, as well as films coming from Aotearoa and that is exactly what my list is made up of.
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: Andrew Harrison
![Green Room](/assets/resized/sm/upload/nf/go/dd/mw/Green%20Room_001-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=481dd08762)
Green Room
Punk rockers and skinheads clash in this intense, darkly humorous game of cat-and-mouse, from the director of bracing indie thriller Blue Ruin.
![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.
![I, Daniel Blake](/assets/resized/sm/upload/ef/8a/y5/5l/KEY%20IDB_DAY_7_248_Katie__Hayley_Squires__Dan__Dave_Johns_-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=c37ee785d8)
I, Daniel Blake
This often funny and ultimately intensely moving tale of the friendship between an out-of-work Newcastle carpenter and a young single mother won for Britain’s Ken Loach a second Palme d’Or for Best Film at Cannes this year.
![Paterson](/assets/resized/sm/upload/v5/2a/1i/b5/_c__2016_-_Mary_Cybulski%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=be62c03a33)
Paterson
Direct from Cannes, Jim Jarmusch’s beautifully calibrated ode to art and ordinariness stars Adam Driver as a New Jersey bus driver who writes poetry in his downtime and Golshifteh Farahani as his cupcake chef wife.
![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.