Films — by Collection

Staff Picks: Nick Paris

An outstanding departure into many lounges from many lands has me hyperactive come July 28th. As windows shrink, digital platforms shift our unwinking gaze to more than a mere modification, enough of a trauma to send me to the glorious Isaac Theatre Royal and our satellite venue Hoyts Northlands for what will be I confess our most creative year ever in my opinion. This year we usher in the 40th Celebration of International Film Festivals in Christchurch, we’ve come a long way from the Avenue International Cinema in Riccarton road, the shabby chic of Amalgamated’s Carlton to the often missed Regent in the Square. I salute all ye who continue to chart this voyage and I feel I’ve never left the gangway in decades…

Aquarius

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Brazilian actress Sonia Braga has the role of her life in this engrossing and richly surprising portrait of a fiercely intelligent and independent woman fighting to save the apartment she loves from demolition.

The Red Turtle

La Tortue rouge

Michael Dudok de Wit

Studio Ghibli’s first international co-production is a ravishing castaway fable that combines beauty, mystery, drama and heartbreak – with not a word spoken. It’s a triumph for animator Michael Dudok de Wit.

Land of Mine

Under sandet

Martin Zandvliet

In this tense, moving war drama, based on fact, a Danish sergeant takes charge of a group of youthful German POWs put to work defusing explosives on the coast of Denmark in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

The Eagle Huntress

Otto Bell

A 13-year-old nomadic Mongolian girl breaks a gender barrier to follow her father and train hunting eagles in this spectacular and entertaining documentary.