Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival announces its full programme for the Masterton leg of the festival, featuring 26 feature films from 15 countries. The festival will run for 14 days at Regent 3 Cinemas from Thursday 18 November and tickets are on sale now.

NZIFF has worked with all its partner venues and cinemas around the country to be able to present the festival under the new Alert Level 2 requirements in 11 towns and cities nationwide, including in Masterton

“We look forward to sharing our fantastic 2021 programme with Wairarapa audiences in a safe environment at Regent 3 Cinemas this November. We hope that local residents will show their support for the festival by checking out as many of the outstanding New Zealand and international films that we’ve selected as possible,” says Festival Director Marten Rabarts.

A special preview evening for the Masterton leg of the festival will be held on Wednesday 17 November with the screening of decorated Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s love letter to cinema, One Second as a fundraiser for the New Zealand Pacific Studio Artists’ Residency. Highlights of the NZIFF 2021 line-up for Masterton also include Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize winning documentary, Flee, and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s contender for the 2021 Best International Feature Oscar, Jasmila Zbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida?

Delivering star power is Berlin Golden Bear nominee, Maria Schrader’s I’m Your Man, featuring Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens as a love android; and moving literary memoir My Salinger Year, staring Sigourney Weaver and rising star Margaret Qualley (Maid).

Thirteen films direct from the Cannes Film Festival are confirmed to screen in Masterton, including Palme d’or winner Titane; Grand Prix award winners, A Hero, from decorated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and Juho Kuosmanen’s offbeat train romance, Compartment No. 6; and Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize Winner Dear Comrades!

New Zealand films screening in Masterton are Signed, Theo Schoon, in which art historian and filmmaker Luit Bieringa re-examines the legacy of the often-contested Dutch immigrant artist which will include a Q&A with the filmmakers; Amy Taylor’s MILKED, a spirited documentary that sees a young activist from rural Northland go up against the powerful dairy industry; and the disarmingly personal There Is No I in Threesome.

In addition to these three New Zealand films screening in Masterton, short film competitions New Zealand’s Best and Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts will also feature.

Tickets for NZIFF 2021 screenings in Masterton are available at Regent 3 Cinemas during normal opening hours and all screenings are available for advance bookings. To view the full NZIFF 2021 programme for Masterton, click here.