Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival announces its full programme for the Tauranga leg of the festival, featuring 42 feature films from 17 countries. The festival will run for 18 days at Rialto Cinemas, Tauranga from Thursday 18 November and tickets are on sale now.

NZIFF has worked with all its partner venues and cinemas around the country to be able to present the festival under the new Alert Level 2 requirements in 11 towns and cities nationwide, including in Tauranga.

“We look forward to sharing our fantastic 2021 programme with Tauranga and Bay of Plenty audiences in a safe environment at Tauranga’s Rialto Cinema this November. We hope that local residents will show their support for the festival by checking out as many of the outstanding New Zealand and international films that we’ve selected as possible,” says Festival Director Marten Rabarts.

Films joining NZIFF’s 2021 line-up for Tauranga include, Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize winning documentary, Flee; decorated Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s love letter to cinema, One Second; and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s contender for the 2021 Best International Feature Oscar, Jasmila Zbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida?

Delivering star power is Berlin Golden Bear nominee, Maria Schrader’s I’m Your Man, featuring Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens as a love android; Oscar-winning Danish director Anders Thomas Jensen’s black comedy revenge thriller Riders of Justice, starring Mads Mikkelsen, and moving literary memoir My Salinger Year, staring Sigourney Weaver and rising star Margaret Qualley (Maid).

Fourteen films direct from the Cannes Film Festival are confirmed to screen in Tauranga, including Palme d’or winner Titane; Grand Prix award winners, A Hero, from decorated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and Juho Kuosmanen’s offbeat train romance, Compartment No. 6; and Venice Film Festival highlights, Golden Lion winning drama Happening and Special Jury Prize winner, Dear Comrades!

New Zealand films screening in Tauranga include, Signed, Theo Schoon, in which art historian and filmmaker Luit Bieringa re-examines the legacy of the often-contested Dutch immigrant artist; and Amy Taylor’s MILKED, a spirited documentary that sees a young activist from rural Northland go up against the powerful dairy industry. In addition, short film competitions New Zealand’s Best and Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts will screen at the festival.

To view the full NZIFF 2021 programme for Tauranga, click here