Festival Programme

Films by Venue

MTG Century Theatre

Anchor Me - The Don McGlashan Story

Shirley Horrocks

A documentary tribute to one of the nation’s best loved songwriters, charting Don McGlashan’s storied career from arty punk upstart to one of the strongest voices in the national identity of Aotearoa.

The Ballad of Wallis Island

James Griffiths

What would you do if you won the lottery? Charles answers the age-old question by inviting his favourite former folk duo to his remote island, where the estranged band members prove that some flames never die...

Blue Moon

Richard Linklater

A washed-up songwriter drowns his sorrows as his former collaborator triumphantly opens Oklahoma! on Broadway. A career-peak performance by Ethan Hawke powers Richard Linklater’s theatrical drama.

The Blue Trail

O último azul

Gabriel Mascaro

In a future world where senior citizens are banished from society, a rebellious matriarch instead embarks on a fantastic Amazon adventure. Gabriel Mascaro’s film is an ode to life and freedom with no age restrictions.

Bring Them Down

Christopher Andrews

Set amongst the rugged countryside of Western Ireland, Christopher Abbot (Poor Things) and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) deliver standout performances in a thriller that is as shocking as the landscape is serene.

Deaf

Sorda

Eva Libertad

A woman navigates the experience of motherhood as a deaf person in a hearing world in Eva Libertad’s crowd-pleasing, feel-good drama which collected the Panaroma Audience Award at Berlin this year.

DJ Ahmet

Georgi M. Unkovski

Ahmet stumbles upon a forest rave at the edge of his local village, where he finds the escape he’s been desperately seeking in Georgi M. Unkovski’s loveable debut, the first ever Macedonian film to be awarded at Sundance.

Dreams (Sex Love)

Drømmer

Dag Johan Haugerud

A teenage girl recounts her crush for her teacher through the pages of a memoir. The winner of the Golden Bear 2025 is a lucid and tender chronicle of the unforgettable experience of first love.

GRACE A Prayer For Peace

Gaylene Preston

A portrait of one of Aotearoa’s greatest living artists by one of our greatest documentary filmmakers. You should expect something special, and that’s what you get.

It Was Just an Accident

Yek tasadef sadeh

Jafar Panahi

A masterpiece of cinematic invention and political bravery, Jafar Panahi’s rousing new film deservedly won the Cannes Palme d’Or and opens NZIFF 2025 on a powerful and inspiring note.

Late Shift

Heldin

Petra Volpe

Plunging through the corridors of a surgical ward, this frantic Swiss drama charts the pulse-racing worklife of an overstretched, underappreciated nursing professional.

Lesbian Space Princess

Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese

Set in a gay-laxy far, far away this crowd pleasing and proudly queer Aussie adult animation delights with its vivid, candy-coloured palette, kinky sense of humour and catchy, upbeat musical numbers.

A Little Something Extra

Un p'tit truc n plus

Artus

This wacky and heartfelt comedy, from popular French standup Artus, follows two criminals on the lam who lay low at a summer camp for young adults with disabilities. A runaway hit at the French box office last year.

Love

Kjærlighet

Dag Johan Haugerud

What is love? Through the stories of a straight woman and a gay man, Haugerud defies conventions with humor and compassion, in an eloquent and moving masterwork on human relations in the 21st century.

Mirrors No. 3

Miroirs No. 3

Christian Petzold

In the wake of a traumatic incident, a young woman forms a surrogate mother-daughter relationship with her rescuer. As emotional walls come down, doubts arise: is there more to the care offered than simple kindness?

Not Only Fred Dagg

Lorin Clarke

For over 40 years, the iconic John Clarke tickled the funny bones of Australian and New Zealand audiences. Now, in this intimately produced documentary, hear his story in his own words.

One to One: John & Yoko

Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards

This immersive portrait of the time John and Yoko spent living in Greenwich Village is a vivid time capsule of America in the early 70s. A time of extreme political polarisation which may seem uncannily familiar.

Orwell: 2+2=5

Raoul Peck

Raoul Peck, the acclaimed documentary chronicler of power in America, looks to George Orwell’s writing of 1984 as a prescient guide to our modern era of Trumpian rule and reality manipulation.

Peacock

Pfau - Bin ich echt?

Bernhard Wenger

Mattias spends his days pretending to be someone else, offering companionship to strangers in need. Bernhard Wenger’s unsettling drama quietly dissects loneliness, identity and the cost of always performing.

The President's Cake

Mamlaket al-Qasab

Hasan Hadi

A young girl scrambles to prepare a high-stakes birthday cake for a dictator amidst the dangers and deprivations of the Gulf War in this irresistibly scrappy Caméra d'Or-winner from Iraq.

Prime Minister

Michelle Walshe, Lindsay Utz

The uncharted highs and crashing lows of Jacinda Ardern’s time at the helm of Aotearoa get their due in an intimate-access international documentary about state power and human vulnerability.

Romería

Carla Simón

One of the standouts of Cannes 2025, Carla Simón’s personal exploration of the restlessness of a young woman without parents is a poignant example of the healing power of cinema.

The Secret Agent

O agente secreto

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho painstakingly recreates the Recife of the 70s dictatorship years in this sprawling, colourful spy thriller like no other. Winner of Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes.

Sentimental Value

Affeksjonsverdi

Joachim Trier

Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his arthouse hit The Worst Person in the World, this piercing and ecstatically moving reflection on family and memory stars Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, and Elle Fanning.

Sex

Dag Johan Haugerud

Returning from last year’s Festival to screen alongside the rest of his Sex Dreams Love trilogy, Dag Johan Haugerud’s comic drama takes a candid and refreshing look at modern gender roles.

The Teacher Who Promised the Sea

El maestro que prometió el mar

Patricia Font

A progressive teacher brings new methods to a village in Burgos on the eve of the Spanish Civil War, whilst in present day Catalonia a woman searches for answers as to the whereabouts of her great-grandfather’s remains.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Tobe Hooper

Frequently cited as the greatest horror film ever made, Tobe Hooper’s raw, deeply disturbing journey into a sweaty, grimy, all-too-real hell still has the power to shake you to your core.

Twinless

James Sweeney

A grieving brother finds an unlikely connection at a support group for siblings who have lost a twin, but his burgeoning bromance threatens to turn into something darker in this uncomfortably sharp-witted comedy.

War Stories Our Mothers Never Told Us

Gaylene Preston

Seven women reflect on the emotional cataclysm of World War II in Dame Gaylene Preston’s landmark contribution to the collective memory of Aotearoa, which has lost none of its raw power on its 30th anniversary.

Went Up the Hill

Samuel Van Grinsven

An unsettling, sinister slow-burn thriller, Samuel Van Grinsven unites rising star Dacre Montgomery with Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps and New Zealand’s own Sarah Peirse for a supernatural chiller like no other.

What Marielle Knows

Was Marielle weiß

Frédéric Hambalek

Panic around a new digital Big Brother era underpins a clever, absurdist send-up of bourgeois hypocrisy, as a married couple are put on the spot by their daughter’s all-pervasive telepathy.

Young Mothers

Jeunes mères

Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

The Dardenne brothers return with a deeply affecting drama exploring the lives of five teen mothers. Hopes and fears steer the young women towards bettering their lives for themselves and their children.