Deception abounds in this nuanced portrait of lies and loss when a middle-aged woman discovers her recently deceased husband led another life in France, contradictory to the pious Muslim home they built together in England.
Festival Programme
Films — by Language
English
![Bergman Island](/assets/resized/sm/upload/oh/tb/aa/be/bergman-2000x1125-1-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=fe99df4183)
Bergman Island
A filmmaking couple navigate love, recognition and Ingmar Bergman in Mia Hansen-Løve's triple-layered Cannes darling, a serene and self-reflective ode to film and storytelling.
![Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan](/assets/resized/sm/upload/d1/au/n9/20/Crock%20of%20Gold_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=52afb40470)
Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan
Documentarian Julien Temple explores the close ties between Shane MacGowan, Ireland’s beloved punk poet, and his home country’s tumultuous history.
![The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson](/assets/resized/sm/upload/97/1u/mh/p9/Drover_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=e808932ebe)
The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson
“An impassioned film with an unflinching Indigenous and feminist perspective.” — Sarah Ward, Screendaily
![Flee](/assets/resized/sm/upload/oj/0m/9p/sc/Flee-2000x1125px-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=80e3b9b8e5)
Flee
A thrilling tale of resilience, Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winner Flee is just as interested in the quiet toll trauma takes on survivors as it is the extraordinary acts that ensured their survival.
![Language Lessons](/assets/resized/sm/upload/hc/p6/zw/hs/Language%20Lessons_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=dda21e88a3)
Language Lessons
Two strangers explore the pleasures and pitfalls of platonic friendship while bonding over online Spanish lessons in this intimate, expressive drama shot during lockdown over video-chat calls.
![Limbo](/assets/resized/sm/upload/lq/iq/n6/kp/LH-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=886e0ebd0a)
Limbo
Melancholic, atmospheric and heartfelt, Ben Sharrock’s feature exploring immigrants awaiting asylum eschews conventional approaches to stories of the modern refugee crisis to create something profound and surprising.
![Mass](/assets/resized/sm/upload/6u/5e/t2/ux/Mass_HERO-web-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=2b0d2e2a79)
Mass
Fran Kranz’s highly accomplished debut feature takes an unflinching look at the endemic horror of school shootings in America and their lingering scars, through the eyes of the parents of the perpetrator and his victim.
![Memoria](/assets/resized/sm/upload/93/zh/8e/1x/Memoria-2000x1125px-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=5ff0982344)
Memoria
Follow Tilda Swinton on a strange supernatural journey into the Colombian jungle, in this hypnotic new film from the director of Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives and Cemetery of Splendour.
![MILKED](/assets/resized/sm/upload/gi/87/43/f5/MILKED_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=dbbb9e1816)
MILKED
The biggest player in the New Zealand economy is put on notice in this spirited documentary that sees a young activist from rural Northland go up against the powerful dairy industry.
![My Salinger Year](/assets/resized/sm/upload/m3/1u/x6/wm/My%20Salinger%20Year_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=7bc8af6a0c)
My Salinger Year
Based on the 2014 memoir, My Salinger Year is The Devil Wears Prada for the literary world, a young woman’s coming of age as she balances her writing ambitions with her new job at a major New York City literary agency.
![New Zealand’s Best 2021](/assets/resized/sm/upload/48/gz/od/wy/NZ's%20Best%20HERO_Hot%20Mother-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=99a80e0c1f)
New Zealand’s Best 2021
Check out the year’s best New Zealand short films as chosen by this year’s guest selector, Kerry Fox, from a total of 117 submitted entries.
![President](/assets/resized/sm/upload/ry/99/tf/fh/President_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=064d01d97b)
President
Moving with the breathless intensity of a political thriller, this disturbing document of potential voter fraud in the 2018 Zimbabwe election is elevated by astonishing access to key players behind-the-scenes.
![Quo Vadis, Aida?](/assets/resized/sm/upload/r7/lf/lt/hf/Quo%20Vadis%20Aida_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=255f4deee6)
Quo Vadis, Aida?
This pressure-cooker Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film puts viewers on the frontlines of an impending massacre in the Bosnian genocide – with harrowing power.
![River](/assets/resized/sm/upload/88/d3/fs/5b/River_HERO-sml-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=bd07fd9256)
River
Let this exultant ode to the life-sustaining waterways that criss-cross our planet wash over you, captured in jaw-dropping imagery by Mountain director Jennifer Peedom.
![Signed, Theo Schoon](/assets/resized/sm/upload/dd/md/kn/by/Signed%20Theo%20Schoon_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=295e5f1b51)
Signed, Theo Schoon
Tracing the story of one of our more complex characters, this layered portrait re-examines the exploits of influential outsider, Dutch immigrant artist Theo Schoon, told in his own words and through first-hand accounts.
![Summer of 85](/assets/resized/sm/upload/bm/zj/az/13/Summer-2000x1125-1-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=27eab6aa1d)
Summer of 85
Été 85
This queer coming-of-age romance combines all the sensuality of François Ozon’s best with the infectious energy of a CW drama and how meeting one person can open you up and change the trajectory of your life.
![Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America](/assets/resized/sm/upload/gh/w8/qb/qr/WhoWeAreAChronicleofRacisminAmerica-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=d8419ad905)
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
Equipped with keen intelligence and a big heart, lawyer Jeffery Robinson educates and challenges in equal measure, giving voice to the silenced and seeking acceptance of racist realities in pursuit of lasting change.
![Written on the Wind](/assets/resized/sm/upload/pn/g8/ac/xs/Written%20on%20the%20Wind_HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=5db88e38c8)
Written on the Wind
Our Bill Gosden tribute wouldn’t be complete without a wall-to-wall Technicolor classic. Bill’s love of early cinema, vibrant studio-era musicals, and frankly anything starring Elvis could be felt throughout his retrospective programming, not least in the carefully curated Live Cinema events he looked forward to most. Douglas Sirk, Hollywood’s unrivalled melodramatist, influenced some of Bill’s absolute favourites — Fassbinder and Almodóvar, most famously — and this presentation of one of the director’s late masterpieces is a fitting occasion to luxuriate in larger-than-life filmmaking on the biggest screen available, as only Bill would have it.