It's not the news we wanted to share, but sadly Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2021 in Hamilton has been cancelled.

NZIFF 2021 was due to open on Thursday (11 Nov) and run until Wednesday 8 December.  However, with the city remaining in Alert Level 3 (Step 2), and no indication of when restrictions will ease to allow cinemas to open, the decision has been made to cancel the three-week festival scheduled for the city.

In making the decision, we have worked closely with our Hamilton partner venue, Lido Cinemas and Hamilton Film Society, and assessed all possible options including postponeme­­nt.

We are so disappointed to not be able to present in Hamilton this year –we were looking forward to bringing more than 50 films from 23 countries to Hamilton audiences. 

Our immediate focus is on delivering the festival across the remaining 11 towns and cities, but we are working towards presenting a selection of the festival films in Auckland, Matakana and Hamilton in early 2022. Kia kaha Kirikiriroa.