New Zealand International Film Festival
Wellington: July 16 – Aug 1
This year’s International Film Festival looks amazing. I’ve listed a few movies that may be of interest below, but you can check them all out at http://nzff.co.nz
The Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island
“Our premiere screening of this Dutch documentary marks the 25th anniversary of the sinking in Auckland harbour by French government agents of the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior. Six members of the original Rainbow Warrior crew eventually settled on Waiheke Island, a location revealed through the lens of filmmaker Suzanne Raes as nothing short of paradise. She films them as they go about their daily lives and investigates the inextricable connections between their life choices and political action.”
Session Times
Fri 16 Jul | 1:15pm | Soundings Theatre, Te Papa
Sun 18 Jul | 3:30pm | Soundings Theatre, Te Papa
Ajami
“A compacted, combustible cluster of small-time gangsterism, ethnic tension, political oppression and exploited illegal labour, the Jaffa of Ajami resembles the Baltimore of The Wire or the Rio of City of God more than it resembles Israel as we’ve ever seen it before in the movies. Jewish Yaron Shani and Palestinian Scandar Copti co-directed this Oscar-nominated drama of youth in strife. Their film circles chronologically to reveal the violent conflicts that lock together the fates of three families – Muslim, Christian and Jewish.”
Session Times
Wed 28 Jul | 8:45pm | Paramount Bergman
Thu 29 Jul | 8:30pm | Paramount Bergman
Sun 1 Aug | 3:45pm | Paramount
Lebanon
“Like Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir) Samuel Maoz served in the Israeli armed forces in the 80s, and has now made a visceral, confrontational film about his experience. His film is as much concerned with the spiritual devastation of young Israeli soldiers as it is with the violence wrought upon the invaded. A technical tour de force set over 24 hours entirely within the confines of a tank, this is a grimy, anti-heroic picture of four typical young men scared shitless. Their view of the world is perilously restricted, glimpsed through the telescopic viewfinder and crosshairs of the gunner’s sights, which move laboriously with the tank’s heavy hydraulic turret. Widely dubbed the Das Boot of tank warfare, this powerful, indicting film was awarded the Golden Lion at last year’s Venice Film Festival.”
Session Times
Thu 22 Jul | 8:45pm | Paramount Bergman
Sat 24 Jul | 9:00pm | Paramount Bergman
Mon 26 Jul | 8:30pm | Paramount
Homegrown: Dramatic Digital Shorts
“This years’ crop of short dramas ably demonstrates the talents of up-and-coming New Zealand filmmakers. From the opening of A Glorious Morning through to the night-time shenanigans of Tee Party there is something for everyone on this cinematic platter.”
Session Times
Thu 22 Jul | 6:15pm | Film Archive
Sun 25 Jul | 4:00pm | Film Archive
Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockabee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio
“An architecture documentary with a difference, Sam Wainwright Douglas’ film is about the needs that architectural design can fulfil by injecting some imagination and vitality into low-cost housing. Although the buildings designed and built by the late Samuel Mockbee and his students, from Auburn University’s undergraduate programme Rural Studio, are made with meagre means, they are still amazing to behold. The Rural Studio charges its students with creating innovative structures for the impoverished community of Hale County, Alabama, often using reclaimed or salvaged materials: old tires become the walls of a church, discarded windshields become the roof of a community centre.”
Session Times
Sat 24 Jul | 5:30pm | Film Archive
Tue 27 Jul | 12:15pm | City Gallery Cinema
Tue 27 Jul | 1:30pm | City Gallery Cinema
There Once Was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho
“On Takuu, a tiny low-lying atoll in the south-west Pacific, the impact of climate change can be seen with every rising tide. The sea washes ever further inshore. Salt water invades fresh and devastates the vegetation. Briar March’s film delivers empathetic portraits of three islanders as they respond to the crisis.”
Session Times
Tue 27 Jul | 6:15pm | Paramount
Honey
“This beautiful film shows remarkable understanding of a small boy‘s evolving view of the natural world. Though its Turkish mountain setting is set down for us in images of limpid, verdant majesty and we are given everything we need to appreciate the ties within the small forest community that holds him dear, this lovely film truly takes place on the soulful face of a six-year-old boy.”
Session Times
Wed 21 Jul | 11:00am | Penthouse Cinema
Wed 21 Jul | 8:30pm | Penthouse Cinema
Thu 22 Jul | 11:00am | Penthouse Cinema
Fri 23 Jul | 6:15pm | Embassy Theatre
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