The strategic document outlines a 10-year strategy of the Board of The New Zealand Film Festival Trust as it works to deliver and reconfigure Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival to ensure the festival’s continuance, the retention of core values and commonalities and to continue a rebuild into the future.

Planning for 2024 and beyond presents the opportunity for a strategic reinvigoration. Following a series of challenging years, the Board acknowledges that it must confront tough decisions to secure the festival’s future viability. For the NZFFT Board and the Festival team, the last four festivals have not been alike, nor are they representative of how the Board expects to operate in 2024 or over the next decade.

While individual challenges such as the once-in-a-generation pandemic, and once-in-a-decade economic shock, may continue to bear down on society, the Board and Festival staff must plan ahead to grow new audiences and experiences that not only ensure its economic viability but deliver a Festival event that holds its place in New Zealand and internationally.

Together with the Festival team and a number of partners, the Board met for a strategy hui and following this collaborative discussion, the Board developed Te ahua o te Whānau Mārama, The future pathway of the New Zealand International Film Festival – 10-year Strategy.

The heart of the festival’s mission remains the same: To deliver a national event that enhances the appreciation of, and engagement with, global art and culture by providing access to a diverse range of high-quality films. The strategy to deliver on this mission is built on three strands: Character – Tuakiri, Values – Whanonga pono, Commitments – Kī taurangi. Details about these strands and how they underpin the festival’s immediate, five-year and 10-year objectives are articulated in the strategy document.

The Board and the NZFFT team are now planning for NZIFF 2024, and details of Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2024 will be made available soon.

Read the Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival, a 10-year Strategy document here