Films by Country

Aotearoa New Zealand

Geoff Dixon: Portraits of Us

Glenis Giles, Clare O'Leary

Environmental issues and pop-culture collide in vibrant textural colours and forms in this intimate portrait of the life, loves and friendships of Aotearoa New Zealand artist Geoff Dixon.

Gloriavale

Fergus Grady, Noel Smyth

With unprecedented access, filmmakers Noel Smyth and Fergus Grady lift the lid on the secretive Gloriavale Christian Community following a family of survivors searching for justice.

Juliet Gerrard: Science in Dark Times

Shirley Horrocks

Science in Dark Times follows the work of a remarkable woman, Dame Juliet Gerrard, Jacinda Ardern's Chief Science Advisor, through three years of dramatic crises, including the Whakaari White Island eruption and the unfolding of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ka Pō

Etienne Aurelius

A young Hawaiian woman escapes an abusive relationship and discovers her roots in this wild Aotearoa-produced Indigenous adventure set in the rugged wilderness of Kauai, Hawaii.

Kāinga

Julie Zhu, Asuka Sylvie, Michelle Ang, Nahyeon Lee, Yamin Tun, Ghazaleh Golbakhsh, HASH, Angeline Loo

Eight Pan-Asian female filmmakers’ powerful anthology film illuminates the immigrant experience in Aotearoa New Zealand through the lives of eight Asian women connected by the house they call home.

Muru

Tearepa Kahi

We are delighted to open this year’s edition with the World Premiere of Tearepa Kahi’s film Muru.

Path 99

Grayson Cooke, Dugal McKinnon

Path 99 combines planetarium immersion with an enveloping electronic soundtrack, showing us how, now more than ever, it is crucial that we all have our heads in the clouds.

Punch

Welby Ings

Seventeen-year-old boxer Jim carries the hopes and dreams of his father on his shoulders, but his growing relationship with local takatāpui Whetu forces him to confront the truth about his sexuality and choose his own future.

Shut Eye

Tom Levesque

In this world premiere Auckland-made feature, a disconnected young woman discovers the world of ASMR and befriends a local streamer, leading to blurred lines between friendship and obsession.

We Are Still Here

Beck Cole, Danielle MacLean, Dena Curtis, Tim Worrall, Richard Curtis, Miki Magasiva, Mario Gaoa, Chantelle Burgoyne, Tracey Rigney, Renae Maihi

To sit, to listen to witness. Starting points for a multi-layered journey bring you to the brink of interaction between cultures, then, now, and what may be. Set in various flashpoints in time.

When the Cows Come Home

Costa Botes

Costa Botes' gentle, yet eye-opening new documentary delves into bovine life on a Cambridge farm where offbeat cow whisperer Andrew Johnstone tends the herd in his own idiosyncratic ways.

Woodenhead

Florian Habicht

Florian Habicht’s debut feature film screened at NZIFF in 2003 and has become a cult classic. This new colourised print had its Aotearoa premiere in Wellington at NZIFF 2021.