Politics

Sara Shahverdi’s unique position as a councilwoman in rural Iran invites the audience to share her triumphs and setbacks as she uplifts young women and ruffles conservative feathers by advocating for gender equality.

Igor Bezinović casts locals from his Croatian hometown to re-envision the reign of Italian poet and self-styled dictator Gabriele D’Annunzio, in a communal antidote to an era of personality cults.

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.

Masterfully directed with pitch-perfect tension, this award-winning Romanian film orchestrates a captivating portrait of the last days of Ceausescu’s regime, as seen through the eyes of six interconnected characters.

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.

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.

An immersive journey through the history of rail travel, this dazzling archival documentary captures humanity at its best and worse, bearing witness to both boundless innovation and bitter despair.

Fresh from Cannes acclaim comes a gripping, mordantly absurd and meticulous study of the inverted logic of state terror from master chronicler of tyranny Sergei Loznitsa.