Visual medication for the tired mind merges all my senses when I think about it, be it a rappers paean to social precepts or a wink to the delightful ink that imbues every frame of Kaurismäki's canvas. The taste of Russia comes with a slew of bitter and sour chemistry in the much anticipated Loveless, his Leviathan came up from the deep to somewhat bother me for days of winter nights after. Never defeated by all this talk of cinema's demise, each year I'm born again to unravel what gifts the directors of today serve up – step inside and get on the carousel...
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: 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: Nick Paris
![Loveless](/assets/resized/sm/upload/31/ww/pj/ms/dsc3765%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=d3cecaf67b)
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.
![BPM (Beats Per Minute)](/assets/resized/sm/upload/np/0l/1q/us/120BattementsParMinute%E2%88%8FCeline_Nieszawer_Photo087_KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=158f7b6c57)
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
120 battements par minute
A wary newcomer to the radical activist life risks his heart with one of its firecracker stars in this stirring and moving exploration of the ACT UP movement that protested government inaction on AIDS in the 90s.
![Patti Cake$](/assets/resized/sm/upload/k2/a0/66/s8/KEY%20-%20Still%201_Danielle%20Macdonald%20as%20Patti%20Dombrowski%20in%20PATTI%20CAKE$_Credit_Jeong%20Park-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=f2b6cc41ca)
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.
![The Other Side of Hope](/assets/resized/sm/upload/oq/7i/tq/o1/L_AUTRE_COTE_DE_L_ESPOIR_photo4%EF%BF%BDSputnik_Oy_(Photographe_Malla_Hukkanen)%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=e300ecc3b3)
The Other Side of Hope
Toivon tuolla puolen
A Syrian stowaway lands up in Helsinki and finds refuge working in the worst restaurant in town in this funny, gorgeously filmed new tragicomedy from Finland hangdog maestro, Aki Kaurismäki.
![Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts 2017](/assets/resized/sm/upload/4f/qw/9t/au/tama_02_publicity%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=e9248c7138)
Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts 2017
Check out the latest and best Māori and Pasifika short films as selected for NZIFF by Leo Koziol, Director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, and Craig Fasi, Director of the Pollywood Film Festival.
![Heal the Living](/assets/resized/sm/upload/40/ac/3h/9n/2_070845_29%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=9bc0cba975)
Heal the Living
Réparer les vivants
A catastrophic accident leaves one family in ruins and bestows another with precious hope in a hospital drama immeasurably enhanced by the delicate sensitivity of Katell Quillévéré’s script and the poetic force of her direction.
![Step](/assets/resized/sm/upload/06/de/50/ee/STEP-575%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=d95b91a13c)
Step
Fighting the tough realities of their disadvantaged neighbourhood, Step follows three irrepressible young women in an enlightened Baltimore school as they prepare for college – and rehearse for step dance glory.