After years of squeezing the festival into numerous venues around the city, we have a new home in the CBD – the stunningly restored Isaac Theatre Royal.

We are delighted. The $40-million dollar restoration of the theatre has provided the city with a grand venue that will bring a real sense of occasion to the festival. It also means we can once again host gala premieres and events for up to 900 people. Better still, with Hoyts Northlands continuing as a vital NZIFF venue, we can offer a much bigger programme.

This is the culmination of a massive effort to raise more than $262,000 for state of the art projection equipment that has now been installed in the Issac Theatre Royal. It was tested for the first time this week and is looking and sounding great.

You can read more about the install, and an interview with Festival director Bill Gosden, over at The Press.

We would not have achieved this without support from:
Christchurch City Council, Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Trust, Southern Trust, The Trusts Community Foundation, Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust, Canterbury Community Trust, and hundreds of private donations including a Boosted campaign.

A huge thank you to all…this is an incredible gift to the people of Christchurch.