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Here's the news you've been waiting for ... announcing the full programme for NZIFF 2022 in Wellington with the festival screening from 4-14 August.

“We couldn’t be prouder of our 2022 programme – as well as having an outstanding collection of films from Aotearoa, our international selection is packed with award-winning, critically acclaimed films from all around the world. We look forward to presenting our programme to audiences around the country and we thank New Zealanders for their continued support of the festival,” says NZIFF General Manager Sally Woodfield.

As previously announced, Muru will open the Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin festivals, while Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s Palme d'Or-winning Triangle of Sadness will bookend the festival programme in all centres.

Additional titles direct from Cannes Film Festival 2022 joining the line-up include Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut Aftersun, starring Normal People’s breakout star Paul Mescal, David Cronenberg’s sci-fi spellbinder Crimes of the Future, staring Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart, Queer Palm winner Joyland, a trans love story from first-time Pakistani director Saim Sadiq, and blacker-than-black Norwegian comedy Sick of Myself, directed by Kristoffer Borgli and from the producers of The Worst Person in the World.

Award winners from this year’s

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We're excited to announce this year's Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts finalists.

Congratulations to: A Morning with Aroha (dir: Nicholas Riini), Burning of the Gods (dir: Karin Williams), Perfect Storm (dir: Morag Brownlie), Raids (dir: Jade Jackson), Smog (dir: Alex Liu), and The Difference Between Pipi & Pūpū (dir: Tajim Mohammed-Kapa).

These six short films from Aotearoa and the Pacific were selected by Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka), Director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, and Craig Fasi (Niue), Director of the Pollywood Film Festival and will screen during NZIFF in all festival locations.

The filmmakers will compete for the Wellington UNESCO City of Film award for Best Film ($3000 cash prize), as judged by a jury. This award will be presented at the final Wellington screening of Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts on Saturday 13 August at The Roxy Cinema. Audience members at Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Whanganui-a-Tara screenings will vote for their favourite short to win the Letterboxd Audience Award, a cash prize of $1000, and this will be announced at the Closing Night of NZIFF in Wellington.

On selecting the films, Koziol said, “Every year the Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika collection of short films showcases both emerging

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On the eve of Matariki, we are pleased to announce that new action-drama film Muru will open NZIFF 2022 in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, with a special screening in Whakatāne. The film will have its World Premiere on Thursday 28 July at Auckland’s The Civic.

From award-winning writer and director Tearepa Kahi (Poi E: The Story of our Song, Mt. Zion), world renowned actor Cliff Curtis and artist Tame Iti, the film is a response to the 2007 Tūhoe raids. Muru is a Māori concept for reconciliation and forgiveness.

Filmed in Te Urewera and Rūātoki, Muru stars Cliff Curtis (The Dark Horse, Avatar 2), Jay Ryan (IT Chapter Two, The Furnace), Manu Bennett (The Hobbit trilogy) and Simone Kessell (Obi-Wan Kenobi). Support cast includes Ria Te Uira Paki (The Dead Lands), Roimata Fox (Waru), Poroaki Merritt-McDonald (Savage) and Tame Iti as himself.

To read more about Muru and view the trailer, click here

Get excited ... today we're serving up a dozen treats to whet your appetite for NZIFF 2022. It's been a frantic few weeks as our programming team have worked to grab the best line-up of highlights of Cannes Film Festival 2022 to feature in Aotearoa this winter. 

We’re thrilled to present this outstanding line-up of major award winners and nominees from celebrated filmmakers from around the globe. We can certainly promise you a diverse range of cinematic experiences this festival.

So here it is ...

Lauded Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s eagerly anticipated satire on the mega-rich, Triangle of Sadness will be the festival’s closing night film, screening in all centres. 

Jointly awarded Grand Prix winners Close, directed by Lukas Dhont, and Claire Denis’ Stars at Noon, also join the line-up.

From Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook comes Decision to Leave, the black-widow noir romance for which he was awarded Best Director. Also screening will be the latest thriller from Tarik Saleh, Boy from Heaven which garnered him the Best Screenplay award.

From Cannes’ Un Certain Regard selection comes Best Director-nominated films: tender drama The Blue Caftan from Morrocan director Maryam Touzani, stunning historical epic Godland from Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason, bittersweet

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Five short films have been selected by this year’s Guest Selector: celebrated filmmaker and Arts Laureate Florian Habicht, as finalists for Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival’s (NZIFF) New Zealand’s Best short film competition.

Finalists will compete for a total prize pool of $15,500, with a jury awarding three prizes at the premiere screening of New Zealand’s Best in Auckland on Saturday, 6 August, and the Audience Award, as voted by the public, awarded on the closing night of the festival in Wellington, Sunday 14 August.

The five finalists are Saviour (dir: Alistair MacDonald), Manny and Quinn (dir: Siobhan Marshall), Perianayaki (dir: Bala Murali Shingade), Rustling (dir: Tom Furniss), and Trees (dir: Tom Scott, Ben Bryan). 

Habicht selected the five finalists from a shortlist curated by NZIFF Head of Programming Michael McDonnell, and Senior Programmer Sandra Reid.

On selecting the films, Habicht said, "I had a shower, shaved, put on my favourite suit, and then watched the pre-selection at home by myself, imagining I was under the stars in The Civic. Five films took my breath away, and they are all so different from each other.

“I loved the time travelling in these works. I loved discovering new talents.

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