In this astonishing, edge-of-the-seat chronicle, the camera follows audacious, high-risk quests to escape from North Korea, and the man who plans them, with a rare intimacy and emotional power.
Festival Programme
Films — by Genre
- Action
- Animals
- Animation
- Artists
- Award-winners
- Based on Books
- Body and Mind
- Comedy
- Coming of Age
- Crime
- Education
- Environment
- Family Lives
- Fantasy
- Films about Films
- Finding Home
- Historical
- Horror
- Indigenous
- LGBTQIA+
- Love Stories
- Media and the Internet
- Music
- Māori/Pacific
- Photography
- Politics
- Religion
- Sci-Fi
- Stylistic
- Travel
- WTF?
- War Zones
- Writers and Theatre
Politics
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Bobi Wine: The People’s President
An extraordinary story of a Ugandan pop-star politician who risks everything to take on a brutal autocrat, told with a rare and potent intimacy.
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Bread and Roses
Preston*Laing’s film adaptation of activist Sonja Davies’ autobiography beautifully captures the heart-breaking social and societal conditions of mid-century women in New Zealand.
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Building Bridges: Bill Youren's Vision of Peace
Farmer, family man, and—unlikely leftist organiser. Director John Chrisstoffels has compiled a gentle portrait of an ordinary New Zealand farmer capturing extraordinary changes in global twentieth century politics.
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The Corridors of Power
In this engrossing study of US interventions since the cold war, a cast of senior White House figures across the decades revisit their decisions, set against a visceral catalogue of archival footage.
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The Giants
Interweaving the inspirational activism of Australian Greens co-founder Bob Brown with the stories of the ancient trees he is fighting to save, this environmental documentary is a rousing call to action.
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The Grab
A stunning investigation into the money, influence, and alarming covert efforts of governments and private investors to gain control of the most vital resources on the planet – food and water.
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Hello Dankness
Cultural anarchists Soda Jerk remix hundreds of bootlegged clips into a gutbusting, memeified satire on the parlous period before and after the 2016 American elections.
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Hong Kong Mixtape
Both hopeful and heart-breaking, Hong Kong Mixtape chronicles the change in the creative landscape of Hong Kong as the shadow of Beijing, and the draconian laws it imposes, looms large.
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Merkel
Utilising a treasure trove of archival material, Eva Weber’s documentary delivers an intimate portrait of the long-serving German chancellor who became the most powerful woman in the world.
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Ms. Information
As the nation plunges into pandemic, Gwen Isaac’s observational documentary delves into the trenches with Siouxsie Wiles, the fuchsia-haired microbiologist who emerged as a national hero and a satanic witch in the minds of a divided New Zealand.
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Reality
Anchored by a remarkable performance from Sydney Sweeney, Reality reconstructs the interrogation and arrest of American whistleblower Reality Winner in real-time, to disturbing, pulse-pounding effect.
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A Storm Foretold
A close-up portrait of Roger Stone, Trump’s disgraced political “fixer” and architect of the January 2021 insurrection. A compelling, frightening image of unbridled power and how far people will go to hang on to it.
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Total Trust
A revealing, personal exploration of the new frontier in China’s surveillance state—and the reality for those who challenge it.