Festival Programme

Films by Language

Arabic

Escape from Mogadishu

Mogadisyu

Ryoo Seung-wan

Operatives from both sides of the Korean divide, working diplomatic jobs in Somalia, must come together to survive as Mogadishu descends into civil war in a political thriller from writer/director Ryoo Seung-wan.

Limbo

Ben Sharrock

Melancholic, atmospheric and heartfelt, Ben Sharrock’s feature exploring immigrants awaiting asylum eschews conventional approaches to stories of the modern refugee crisis to create something profound and surprising.

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

A pregnant teen and her mother look to the women of their community for help in Cannes-selected abortion drama Lingui, the Sacred Bonds, set amidst the natural beauty and religious strictures of Chad.

Marinheiro das montanhas

Karim Aïnouz

Brazilian-Algerian filmmaker, and NZIFF veteran, Karim Aïnouz invites us on his first ever journey to Algeria, the homeland of his estranged father, in this evocative diary film bending space and time.

Notturno

Gianfranco Rosi

Gianfranco Rosi’s visually stunning portrait of ordinary people living in the warzones of the Middle East is the kind of sensory experience that demands the immersion of a darkened movie theatre.

The Return: Life after ISIS

Alba Sotorra Clua

An intimate work of journalism examining the fate of ‘ISIS brides’, women lured to Syria and radicalised by the militant group, who now flounder in a Kurdish-run refugee camp, desperate to return home.

Souad

Ayten Amin

Writer/director Ayten Amin’s captivating second feature explores the entangled contradictions of living up to the expectations of God and family while balancing the desire for an Insta-worthy life in modern Egypt.