Animals, astronomy, mate-ship, ice, religion and love are just some of the subjects explored in this year’s New Zealand International Film Festival selection of New Zealand films.
Announced so far are 16 features and 28 shorts by New Zealand filmmakers – all of them brand new to local audiences and 36 of them are having their world premiere as part of the festival.
Toa Fraser’s feature film of the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s version of Giselle will have its world premiere in Auckland at the Civic theatre on Saturday, 20th July - the celebration weekend for the company’s 60th birthday year.
The opening weekend of the Film Festival in Wellington will celebrate the enhancement and restoration of Geoff Murphy’s 1983 historic epic UTU. Re-presented as UTU Redux (pictured), the edit has been refreshed, the soundtrack remixed and the picture re-mastered.
New Zealanders will be able to see Daniel Joseph Borgman’s beautiful debut feature film The Weight of Elephants, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February and is currently in theatres in Denmark; and Stephanie Beth’s thought-provoking Us and the Game Industry, which premiered last month at the Dances with Films Festival in LA.
The New Zealand Film Commission congratulates all the independently and NZFC funded films selected for this internationally renowned festival in its 42nd year.
“This is a fantastic result for New Zealand film” says NZFC Chief Executive Graeme Mason. “This long list of local offerings, from shorts to features of every genre, gives plenty for filmmakers to celebrate and filmgoers to enjoy.”
The New Zealand feature film premiere dates in Auckland and Wellington are:
Giselle (Saturday 20 July, 7pm Civic Theatre, Auckland)
Antarctica: A Year on Ice (Sunday 21 July, 11am Civic Theatre, Auckland)
The Weight of Elephants (Sunday 21 July, 6pm, Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
Oracle Drive (Monday 22 July, 6.30pm, Academy Cinemas, Auckland)
Utu Redux (Friday 26 July, 8.30pm, Embassy Theatre, Wellington)
Romeo & Juliet: A Love Song (Friday 26 July, 9pm, Civic Theatre, Auckland
Gardening with Soul (Saturday 27 July, 2.45pm, Embassy Theatre, Wellington)
Venus: A Quest (Sunday 28 July, 12.15pm, Academy Cinemas, Auckland)
Don Driver: Magician (Sunday 28 July, 2.15pm, Academy Cinemas, Auckland)
Us and the Game Industry (Sunday 28 July, 5.45pm, Te Papa, Wellington)
Soul in the Sea (Monday 29 July, 6.30pm Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
The Deadly Ponies Gang (Wednesday 31 July, 6.30pm Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
Sheen of Gold (Saturday 3 August, 6pm, Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
He Toki Huna: New Zealand in Afghanistan (Sunday 4 August, 1.30pm. Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
Fantail (Sunday 4 August, 4pm, Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
Scenes in My Head (Sunday 4 August, 6.45pm, Film Archive theatre, Wellington)
Twenty-eight New Zealand short films will reach audiences through several avenues at the festival this year. Last year the festival successfully launched its short film competition New Zealand’s Best which this year showcases the talent of six emerging filmmakers to local audiences. Also returning is the Nga Whanaunga Maori Pasifika short film programme - a collection of indigenous work from New Zealand and Australia curated by Leo Koziol of Wairoa Film Festival in collaboration with the festival - this year the programme premieres six New Zealand short films. Shadow Lands, a programme of short films by New Zealand filmmakers exploring mysterious landscapes and shadowy figures, will premiere two films.
In addition the Festival has programmed a number of short films in front of features. Ranging from live action to mixed media and animation, these films bring to the audience’s attention the variety and strength of New Zealand's filmmaking.
The short films premiering are:
Here Now (Screening with Oh Boy, Friday 19 July, 4.15pm Academy Cinemas, Auckland)
Helmut Makes a Quilt (Screening with Prince Avalanche, Friday 19 July, 8.45pm, Rialto, Auckland)
Friday Tigers (Nga Taika o te Ramere) (Screening with It Boy, Saturday 20 July, 6pm, Lido Auckland)
Nga Whanaunga Maori Pasifika featuring The One Armed Bandit, Maumahara, Dog on Duty, Wide Eyed and Butterfly (Screens Sunday 21st July, 12.15pm, Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
Strongman (Screening with Maidentrip, Monday 22nd July, Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
New Zealand’s Best featuring Interim, Tom’s Dairy and Blind Mice (Screens Saturday 27th July, 6.15pm Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
Honk if You’re Horny (Screening with Maniac Saturday 27th July, 10.30pm, Sky City Theatre, Auckland)
Maul (Screening with The Summit, Sunday 28th July, 10.30am, Civic Theatre, Auckland)
I’m Going to Mum’s (Screening with What Maisie Knew, Sunday 28th July, 6pm, Broadway, Auckland)
The Mobile Meat Processing Unit (Screening with The Human Scale Sunday 28th July, 1pm, Civic, Auckland)
Nell the Narcoleptic – Asleep on the Job (Screening with The Gilded Cage, Thursday 25th July, 6pm, Broadway, Auckland)
The Small Movements (Screening with Everyday Objects, Saturday 27th July, 8.15pm, Academy Cinema, Auckland)
Le Taxidermiste (Screening with Don Driver: Magician, Tuesday 30 July, 12.30pm, Academy Cinema, Auckland)
Uketamau (Screening with The Successor of Kakiemon, Monday 29 July, 12.15pm, City Gallery, Wellington)
Shadow Lands featuring Rider and One Way to the Sea (Screens Saturday 3 August, 11am, Auckland)
The full list of films and screening details can be found on the NZIFF website www.nziff.co.nz