It’s film festival season, and with the full programme just released, we are already penning our must-watch list for Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival, opening at Lumière Cinemas and Isaac Theatre Royal on Friday 29 October.

The French Dispatch In signature charming style, Wes Anderson pays homage to the golden age of journalism in this star-studded film, weaving three storylines together as a fictional Kansas newspaper prepares its final issue.

The Lost Daughter A stunning adaption of Elena Ferrante’s book about motherhood gone astray, the directorial debut from Maggie Gyllenhaal is captivating and sensual, featuring a powerhouse performance from Olivia Colman.

The Power of the Dog From incomparable New Zealand storyteller and director Dame Jane Campion, this menacing neo-Western is a fable of two brothers and the mother and son who come between them.

My Salinger Year A young woman attempts to balance her writing ambitions with her new job at a major New York literary agency in this adaption of the 2014 memoir that has drawn comparisons with The Devil Wears Prada.

Juliet Gerrard: Science in Dark Times A fascinating documentary following the life and career of Dame Juliet Gerrard, Chief Science Advisor to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern through three years of unprecedented crises, including the eruption at Whakaari White Island and the Covid-19 pandemic.

There Is No I In Threesome Described as one of the freshest, bravest and most original New Zealand films in a long time, this story of a newly-engaged couple deciding to try an open relationship 12 months before their wedding has already earned international acclaim.

One Second From the internationally acclaimed director of Raise the Red Lantern, this is a love letter to cinema set during the Cultural Revolution, following an escaped convict as he sets out on a mission to see a particular newsreel.

MILKED A young activist from rural Northland challenges the dairy industry’s greenwashing in this thought-provoking documentary about our biggest economic player.

Nowhere Special A Northern Ireland window cleaner is given only a few months to live, and as a single father with no relatives to speak of, he sets out to find a replacement family for his young son.

Titane The festival closes with this wild, genre-bending spectacle, shock winner of the Palme D’or at Cannes in 2021, about an exotic-dancer-slash-serial-killer who must go on the run when one of her murders goes awry.

New Zealand International Film Festival
Friday 29 October - Sunday 14 November
nziff.co.nz