Festival Programme

Films by Genre

Style

Both Sides of the Blade

Avec amour et acharnement

Claire Denis

Juliette Binoche, Vincent Lindon and Gregoire Colin form a turbulent love triangle as old flames endure in Claire Denis’ sexy and volatile relationship drama.

Corsage

Marie Kreutzer

Marie Kreutzer’s bold and subversive costume drama features an imperious Vicky Krieps as the restless Empress Elisabeth of Austria, struggling to break free from the restrictive confines of courtly life.

Decision to Leave

Heojil kyolshim

Park Chan-wook

Park Chan-wook makes a welcome return to NZIFF with this masterful and seductive romantic thriller about an insomniac detective investigating a mysterious widow oddly unconcerned with her husband’s death.

Flux Gourmet

Peter Strickland

Cult favourite Peter Strickland channels Spinal Tap in this deliciously outlandish send-up of artistic pretension at an institute dedicated to the culinary arts. “A feast of hilarity and horror.” — Time Out

The Forgiven

John Michael McDonagh

Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain headline a star cast dealing with the fallout from a debauched weekend in Morocco in John Michael McDonagh’s blackly comic skewering of privilege.

Lost Illusions

Illusions perdues

Xavier Giannoli

Reaping top awards at the 2022 Césars, this majestic, lavish fresco adapted from Balzac’s masterpiece paints a cruel portrait of 19th century Parisian society and the burgeoning world of the press, which has startling contemporary overtones.

Anisia Uzeyman, Saul Williams

Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s one-of-a-kind feature is an Afro-futurist science-fiction musical centred on a grieving coltan miner and an intersex hacker who find liberation through technology.

Nothing Lasts Forever

Jason Kohn

You’ll never look at diamonds the same way after seeing Jason Kohn’s stunning exposé of the true value of these precious gems and the secretive industry that sets their price.

Triangle of Sadness

Ruben Östlund

Gilded privilege comes a cropper when abruptly confronted by less luxurious reality in this brilliantly orchestrated satire awarded the Palme d’Or 2022.