You’re either with me or against me. This isn’t a pull-out-of-my-bum-cos-NZFF-asked-me-to list - this is a specifically curated list of films that I have seen or will see during the festival. They range from timeless classics to scorchingly recent and contain my favourite themes of desperation, betrayal and insurmountable obstacles with glimpses of humour – black and/or bold. And without stating the obvious – the entire Incredibly Strange section I programme also comes highly recommended.
Films — by Collection
- At the Movies: Bill Gosden and Simon Morris
- Bill Gosden’s Guide to NZIFF 2017
- Coup De Main
- Letterboxd
- Metro: David Larsen
- Staff Picks: Abby Cattermole
- Staff Picks: Alice Vilardel
- Staff Picks: Ant Timpson
- Staff Picks: Beck Eleven
- Staff Picks: Hedda ten Holder
- Staff Picks: Ina Kinski
- Staff Picks: Jo Scott
- Staff Picks: Kailey Carruthers
- Staff Picks: Kezia Dwyer
- Staff Picks: Manali Bhatia
- Staff Picks: Michael McDonnell
- Staff Picks: Miles Chan
- Staff Picks: Nick Paris
- Staff Picks: Rebecca McMillan
- Staff Picks: Sandra Reid
- Staff Picks: Tim Keats
- Staff Picks: Tim Wong
- The Residents: Lucy Revill
- Wellington Film Society
Staff Picks: Ant Timpson
Good Time
In this adrenalised Cannes sensation from guerrilla-filmmaker siblings Josh and Benny Safdie, Robert Pattinson is riveting as a small-time criminal on a frantic nocturnal odyssey to break his brother out of custody.
Loveless
Nelyubov
Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan) won the Cannes Jury Prize for his stark and gripping tale of a divorcing couple caught in a missing-child procedural.
Patti Cake$
Music video director Geremy Jasper launches an unlikely rap star – a plus-size, white New Jersey rapper played by Aussie sensation Danielle Macdonald – in this high-energy feature debut.
Stalker
One of the most immersive and rarefied experiences in all cinema, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker embarks on a metaphysical journey through an enigmatic post-apocalyptic landscape. Newly restored.
The Untamed
La región salvaje
Love triangle drama and erotic bio-sci-fi thrills meet in a truly bizarre exploration of oppressive machismo and liberating sexual abandon from Mexican director Amat Escalante.