News

Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival has revealed its full programme for Christchurch and Wellington. The garden city opens this year’s nationwide festival on Friday 29 October, followed by the capital on Thursday 4 November.

NZIFF has been working with partner venues and cinemas around the country to be able to present the festival under the new Alert Level 2 requirements in 12 towns and cities.

“We are delighted that even at level 2 we can screen our outstanding 2021 programme to Cantabrians and Wellingtonians in a safe environment this November. Cancelling Auckland was a big blow – one that we share with fellow arts and culture organisations around the country who’ve been hugely impacted by this latest Delta outbreak,” says Festival Director Marten Rabarts.

"We hope that Kiwis will now rally behind the film festival and show their support by coming out to see the stunning line-up of films that we’ll be presenting.

“As well as having a fantastic collection of New Zealand films, our international selection is jam-packed with award-winning, critically acclaimed films from around the globe that we can’t wait to share with audiences.”

Highlights screening in both Wellington and Christchurch include Wes Anderson’s star-studded homage to

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Today we share the heartbreaking news that following the Government’s announcement on Monday that Auckland will remain in a form of Alert Level 3 for coming weeks, the Auckland leg of Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2021 must be cancelled.

New Zealand Film Festival Trust Chair Catherine Fitzgerald said the board and management have worked tirelessly to assess all possible options. “It is with very heavy hearts that we make this announcement today.”

Ms Fitzgerald said the festival would require indoor capacities to be uncapped for NZIFF 2021 to be able to go ahead in Auckland venues and cinemas, and this includes the recently-announced Matakana Cinemas which were added to festival for this year.

“With Auckland in a form of Level 3 for some weeks to come, and uncertainty around when capacity limits will be lifted, it is no longer possible for us to go ahead with the Auckland edition of this year’s festival.

“The team, led by Director – Kaiwhakatere Marten Rabarts and General Manager Sally Woodfield, has worked under extraordinary circumstances to do everything possible to present this year’s festival in all 13 towns and cities, and our programme confirmed for 2021, featuring an outstanding line-up of

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Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) will celebrate 50 years of the film festival in Wellington with a special screening event at The Embassy. In addition to commemorating its golden anniversary in Wellington UNESCO City of Film, NZIFF will also pay tribute to its former Director, Bill Gosden, with a specially curated programme of retrospective films to screen in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, which originally screened at the third festival in 1974, will play at the festival’s Wellington flagship venue, The Embassy on Sunday 7 November. The special screening event will be presented by Wellington Film Festival founder Lindsay Shelton and is a nod to the early ‘Fassbinder years’ of the festival which saw a raft of the prolific German directors’ films programmed in quick succession. The Embassy will display festival posters and brochures from throughout its five-decade run in its lobby to mark the occasion.

“NZIFF is extremely proud to celebrate 50 years of the festival in Wellington. From its beginnings, it has captivated the hearts and minds of Wellingtonians, and it is one of the highlights of the city’s cultural calendar”, says Festival Director Marten

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Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) will celebrate its 50-year anniversary in Wellington with a special screening event at The Embassy. In addition to commemorating its golden anniversary in the UNESCO city of film, NZIFF will pay tribute to its former Director, Bill Gosden, with a specially curated programme of retrospective films to screen in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, which originally screened at the festival in 1974, will play at The Embassy on Sunday, 7 November at 5:30pm. The special event screening is a nod to the early ‘Fassbinder years’ of the festival which saw a raft of the prolific German directors’ films programmed in quick succession. The Embassy will display festival posters and brochures from throughout its five-decade run in its lobby to mark the occasion.

“NZIFF is extremely proud to celebrate 50 years of the festival in Wellington. From its beginnings, it has captivated the hearts and minds of Wellingtonians, and it is one of the highlights of the city’s cultural calendar”, says Festival Director Marten Rabarts. “It’s wonderful to reflect on how the festival has evolved over the decades and recognize the part that

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Award-winning films from Cannes, Venice and Berlin film festivals will feature at Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF).

NZIFF today reveals 11 hot ticket films from its programme set to thrill, inspire, and surprise audiences when they have their New Zealand premieres at the festival.

“The film festival has always worked to bring the very best in film to New Zealand audiences, and this year we have an exceptional line-up with major award winners from the biggest film festivals in the world,” says Director Marten Rabarts. Cannes Film Festival titles include Palme d’Or winner, Titane, which will close the festival in a memorable way and Grand Prix award winners, A Hero, from decorated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and Juho Kuosmanen’s offbeat train romance, Compartment No. 6.

Other Cannes titles include two very different 'coming-of-age' films, the intense Russian Unclenching the Fists and the sunny Croatian Murina, starring New Zealander Cliff Curtis, for which writer-director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic was awarded the Caméra d’Or for best debut feature. They join the previously announced Jury Prize winner, Memoria. 

Hot off the heels of critically lauded debuts at Venice Film Festival comes Golden Lion winner, Audrey Diwan’s hard-hitting drama, Happening, and Grand

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