Staff Picks: Sandra Reid

It is naturally inevitable that way too many terrific films in a year of film viewing and selecting get left off a list as condensed as this. But they have not been forgotten. I sometimes get around this dilemma by sneaking in mentions in this introduction, but naming them here would make for a very, very long list. My selection this year is heavily skewed toward Cannes (a mighty crop this year), mainly because it was my most recent festival port of call for this year’s NZIFF programme, and these films are fresh in my mind. But others, like Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope, have also lingered for a long time – his wonderful film has been with me since February, when I had the huge enjoyment of seeing it at the Berlinale. Austerlitz is another (there, I did sneak a title in!) – Sergei Loznitsa is one of my favourite filmmakers, so I am thrilled that we are showing two of his films this year (his A Gentle Creature is on my list).  There are, of course, also many films I have not yet seen, including the rich selection of local titles, and which I am very much looking forward to seeing.