The New Zealand International Film Festival, a highlight of the cultural calendar, arrives in Ōtautahi Christchurch this week. Across its 18 days, the festival will show 78 feature-length films and 7 short film collections from 21 countries.

That’s a lot of screen time! To help you with your choices, the festival’s Head of Programming, Michael McDonnell, has highlighted 10 hidden gems you may otherwise miss.

Anselm 3D

An immersive documentary portrait of German artist Anselm Keifer from another German master, Wim Wenders. The film offers viewers a highly accessible three-dimensional view of Keifer’s amazing sculptural works and insight into his artistic process.

Charcoal

An unexpectedly twisty crime thriller from Brazil in which a poor rural family agree to hide a drug lord in their small farm in return for a wad of cash. Just when you think you know where it’s going, Carolina Markowicz’s debut film pulls the rug out from under you.

Fantastic Machine

Produced by Ruben Östlund, this Swedish film pulls together hundreds of clips to produce a perfectly succinct found-footage essay on the history of photography. Even though it’s sourced entirely from YouTube, it contains some of the most amazing footage of the festival.

The Grab

Another documentary that will stun viewers, this new film from the director of Blackfish chronicles a staggering investigation into the covert race to control the world’s food and water resources – a subject surely familiar to many New Zealanders.

The Innocents

A 4K restoration of a classic British chiller, an adaptation of Henry James’ Turn of the Screw, starring Deborah Kerr as a governess enlisted to care for two orphaned children in an empty manor. This infamously scary gothic horror deserves to be seen on the big screen

How to Have Sex

The hot recommendation from Cannes, this debut film from cinematographer-turned-director Molly Manning Walker about a trio of British girls on a wild Mediterranean holiday has been compared widely to last year’s smash hit Aftersun.

Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV

A fascinating documentary portrait of the pioneer of video art, Nam June Paik. Amazing archive footage shows how ahead of the curve Paik was, creating what would’ve been cutting-edge artwork today back in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Radical

Based on a true story, this uplifting tale about an inspirational Mexican teacher stars Eugenio Derbez, who audiences will remember from CODA. This crowd-pleasing film won the overall Audience Award at Sundance this year and has been a crowd favourite at NZIFF so far.

Robot Dreams

The touching story of Dog and his Robot best friend, this animated adaptation of Sarah Varon’s graphic novel takes us to a meticulously detailed 1980s New York populated by anthropomorphic animals. Delightfully cinematic and appealing to adults and children alike.

Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)

A riotously entertaining documentary about the designers responsible for some of the most recognisable album artwork of all time; think Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. Full of hilarious tall tales from the days of rock ‘n’ roll excess.

Various venues, Thu 10 – Thu 17 Aug, nziff.co.nz