In 2015 over 250,000 ticket-holders gathered at NZIFF venues over 13 towns and cities around New Zealand. In 2016 two movie characters discover the NZIFF audience in our poster art.

NZIFF Director Bill Gosden was inspired by numerous movie characters he’d seen in recent films.

“I saw couples exploring dark places with torches in every second movie I watched. There’s always a moment when the beam of light glances the lens, reaching out from the screen.” says NZIFF Director Bill Gosden.
We asked designer Matt Bluett to retain the beam of torchlight from last year’s poster and put it into the hands of a pair of shadowy movie characters. They shine it upon a bunch of lively individuals assembled expectantly before the giant cinema screen. Illustrator Tom Simpson with assistance from Sacha Lees brought the sketch to life.
“Ocean is proud of its 27-year relationship with NZIFF, and pleased to present the artwork for this year’s festival poster.” says Matt Bluett and the team at Ocean Design.

Last year stories from 60 countries were represented across a programme of 163 films. 42 languages were spoken or signed from that giant screen. Our 2016 poster artwork celebrates this sense of encountering the unexpected. We can’t wait to hand that spotlight over to filmmakers and their stories around NZ this winter.

The full NZIFF programme will be available from Tuesday 21 June for Auckland, and Friday 24 June for Wellington. NZIFF starts in Auckland on 14 July and in Wellington from 22 July in 2016.