A man is trapped after falling down a manhole in this delightfully bonkers single-space survival thriller from Japan that keeps the twists and surprises coming thick and fast until the very end.
Festival Programme
Films — by Language
- American Sign Language
- Arabic
- Azerbaijani
- Cantonese
- Cape Verdean Creole
- Dari
- Dutch
- English
- Estonian
- Farsi
- Finnish
- Fon
- French
- German
- Hindi
- Hokkien
- Igbo
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Lala
- Lingala
- Luganda
- Malay
- Mandarin
- Mapuche
- Mongolian
- Nigerian Pidgin
- No Dialogue
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portguese
- Portugese
- Pulaar
- Russian
- Seto
- Sioux
- Spanish
- Swahili
- Swedish
- Sāmoan
- Tagalog
- Tayal
- Te reo Māori
- Thai
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Võro
Japanese
![Animation for Kids 8+](/assets/resized/sm/upload/ti/zh/u1/cy/SOMNI-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=dd0ef2a9aa)
Animation for Kids 8+
Get ready for your annual wintery fix of animated inventiveness from all corners of our big wide world.
![Monster](/assets/resized/sm/upload/db/03/ln/33/HERO_KBX7174_4h_S_C_R%20(c)2023%20Monster%20Film%20Committee-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=b417095a41)
Monster
Kaibutsu
Straight from Cannes where its intricately composed script was deservedly awarded, Kore-eda Hirokazu’s latest is a deeply affecting and morally complex drama told from multiple perspectives.
![The Munekata Sisters](/assets/resized/sm/upload/zd/6j/0d/oy/HERO-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=75cdcbc230)
The Munekata Sisters
Munekata kyōdai
Screening here for the first time in a stunning 4K restoration, one of Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu’s most elusive and under-viewed films, made working as a director-for-hire for Toho.
![Perfect Days](/assets/resized/sm/upload/my/mv/jv/68/HERO_01_perfectdays_koji-yakusho_arisa-nakano_2023-master-mind-ltd-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=ba863779f8)
Perfect Days
Wim Wenders hits the sweet spot with this deceptively simple character study chronicling the daily life of a Tokyo cleaner, which is emotionally resonant in its stunning attention to detail and filmic poetry.
![Phantom](/assets/resized/sm/upload/70/9n/y5/ys/HERO_PHA_STI-MKT-17-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=1d8aba4e3c)
Phantom
Yuryeong
Set in Japanese-occupied Korea in 1933, five people are held captive by a security chief determined to find the spy “Phantom” in this stylish, highly entertaining thriller.
![Plan 75](/assets/resized/sm/upload/4p/m6/vi/fy/HERO_12.portrait-2-Michi-scaled-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=712dd1fdc0)
Plan 75
This quietly devastating debut depicts a dystopian near-future Japan where the government implements a programme of voluntary euthanasia for those over 75 as the solution for a rapidly aging population.
![River](/assets/resized/sm/upload/hh/5b/7w/iv/HERO_river_sub5-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=d8be9ade09)
River
Ribā, nagarenaideyo
The team behind festival hit Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (NZIFF 2021) return with an ingenious comedy in which the staff at a traditional hot springs hotel are trapped in a time loop that repeats every two minutes.
![Shin Ultraman](/assets/resized/sm/upload/ke/cw/on/wi/HERO_Shin%20Ultraman%2006-0-520-0-390-crop.jpg?k=1f2de03ed1)
Shin Ultraman
An irony-free kaiju blockbuster that simultaneously pays respectful homage to the original Ultraman mythos while re-energising the beloved character with kinetic high-tech filmmaking.