This is my second year working for NZIFF, my third attending, and each festival has offered something totally different and unexpected for me. As a reasonably uneducated (but enthusiastic) film fan, the following is a selection of films that I’m hoping to see for different reasons: some for their ability to take me into different people’s lives and experiences, others because I’m a bit of a music nerd, and The Farewell just because I really loved it. — Lauren Day, Guest Coordinator
Films — by Collection
- Film Talks: Jane Ross
- Flicks.co.nz
- Letterboxd Community
- Letterboxd Crew
- Lumière Cinemas
- Staff Picks: Bradley Pratt
- Staff Picks: Charlotte Underhill
- Staff Picks: Daniel Burger
- Staff Picks: Emma Carter
- Staff Picks: Ina Kinski
- Staff Picks: Jessica Hof
- Staff Picks: Lauren Day
- Staff Picks: Lauri Korpela
- Staff Picks: Lynnaire MacDonald
- Staff Picks: Michael McDonnell
- Staff Picks: Nick Paris
- Staff Picks: Rebecca McMillan
- Staff Picks: Sandra Reid
- Staff Picks: Sharon Byrne
- Staff Picks: Tim Wong
- Wellington Film Society
Staff Picks: Lauren Day
![Amazing Grace](/assets/resized/sm/upload/vh/2h/u5/gy/AG_Still_7%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=702c024e6d)
Amazing Grace
Rescued from 45 years in legal and technical limbo, this extraordinary music film capturing Aretha Franklin in full flight deserves your respect – and the biggest screen and sound system possible.
![Beats](/assets/resized/sm/upload/tx/1h/nx/af/346A4067%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=55171b119c)
Beats
As EDM and ecstasy-fuelled raves are targeted by 90s lawmakers, two downtrodden Glasgow teenagers are determined to taste the action. Director Brian Welsh (The Entire History of You) makes it a night to remember.
![Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound](/assets/resized/sm/upload/d3/wg/5o/y1/Making%20Waves%20-lighter%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=5b737a3892)
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
An ear-opening and revelatory history lesson on the unsung power of sound in cinema, Making Waves interposes fascinating interviews with dissected scenes to educate and exhilarate even the seasoned cinephile.
![The Farewell](/assets/resized/sm/upload/5k/ww/by/jm/TheFarewell_large%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=953343fca7)
The Farewell
Deft and deeply felt, with a star-making turn from Awkwafina, Lulu Wang’s widely praised drama tells the story of a Chinese American family paying their last respects to a mother and grandmother who doesn’t know she’s dying.
![The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão](/assets/resized/sm/upload/6o/gt/ma/r7/01KEY_THE_INVISIBLE_LIFE_OF_EURIDICE_GUSMAO_%C2%A9Bruno%20MachadoKEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=273eb4532c)
The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão
A vida invisível de Eurídice Gusmão
A saga of sisterhood for the ages, Madame Sata director Karim Aïnouz’s sensual ‘tropical melodrama’ won top prize at this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard section.
![Yuli](/assets/resized/sm/upload/es/gu/kc/7p/001_Yuli%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=cdb17f1e89)
Yuli
Moving between fiction and reality, and harnessing the power of both drama and dance, Cuban ballet dancer and choreographer Carlos Acosta shares his life story, from a barely interested kid to one of the greats.
![Animals](/assets/resized/sm/upload/j2/x4/9z/5f/180322-Animals-hi-res%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=8ca1767ff5)
Animals
Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) are thirty-something best friends in Dublin, where partying hard is still their way to have fun, but the reality of getting older is getting harder to ignore.
![God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya](/assets/resized/sm/upload/pa/nr/zl/rw/GodExists_03_ZoricaNusheva%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=ee1095685f)
God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya
Gospod postoi, imeto i’ e Petrunija
Teona Strugar Mitevska’s Macedonia-set satire charts the empowering, thought-provoking journey of a woman who challenges patriarchy and gender equality while finding herself in the process.
![The Amazing Johnathan Documentary](/assets/resized/sm/upload/b5/ik/ub/w4/untitledamazing1%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=60881d4eeb)
The Amazing Johnathan Documentary
In the world of magic, nothing is what it seems as a terminally ill magician prepares for his swansong – and the ultimate trick on the maker of this bizarre documentary.
![Mope](/assets/resized/sm/upload/5x/cf/wy/mn/A_19848_MOPE_still_NathanStewartJarrett%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=69154cec63)
Mope
Boogie Nights meets Pain & Gain in this tragic, oddly compelling story of two low-end porn actors who sought fame but gained infamy, all based on real events.
![For Sama](/assets/resized/sm/upload/fx/ou/ky/gn/SAMA_main%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=c7d15a4d9d)
For Sama
Shot over five years, Waad al-Kateab’s intimate, Cannes award-winning film addresses her baby daughter and delivers a harrowing account of the war in Aleppo, the devastation wrought on the city, its people and children.
![The Day Shall Come](/assets/resized/sm/upload/cq/jc/fe/yv/The%20Day%20Shall%20Come%20KEY-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=8b18a4c1d1)
The Day Shall Come
Anna Kendrick plays a dysfunctional FBI agent tricking an idealistic preacher into plotting terror in The Day Shall Come, Chris Morris’ ballsy, very funny follow-up to festival hit Four Lions.