The Fraud Film Festival returns with a two-day event made up of six films, panel discussions, and more.
The 2025 Fraud Film Festival returns with another lineup of films aimed to raise awareness of deceptions, cons, and frauds in their many forms.
This year’s programme, playing at Wellington’s Roxy Cinema on March 17 & 18, shines a light on online scams, whistleblowing, sport, cryptocurrency, romantic deception, facial recognition and AI.
“These carefully curated films have sparked critical conversations on deception in its many forms,” the official press release states, “in both the expert panel discussions that follow each film, and the networking opportunities offered to those fighting fraud in the public and private sectors.
“It’s this unique blend of international storytelling and local relevance that makes the festival not just a cinematic experience, but an invaluable event that entertains, informs, and equips attendees with actionable knowledge.”
You can grab tickets to attend both days (or just the second day) of screenings and events over at the Roxy Cinema page. Here’s the lineup:
Hackers: Identity Theft
Cyberspace is more insecure than ever as hackers exploit human error and technical vulnerability to hold it to ransom for their personal data. Companies, public bodies, schools and individuals have all become victims of cyber attacks.
In this documentary, victims tell how internet criminals have destroyed their lives.
Ticking Time Bomb: The Truth Behind Takata Airbags
Two whistleblowers expose a cover-up scandal at airbag manufacturer Takata. The company knowingly released life-threatening airbags onto the market. More than 100 million cars are still driving around with a ticking time bomb.
Stasi FC
Tracing a decade of East German football, survivors of the Cold War tell a story of betrayal, murder, and manipulation in a revealing insight into how the Stasi secret police saw football as more than a game.
Lie to Me
When OneCoin was launched as “the bitcoin killer” in 2014, it was promised gold and green forests. Anyone could get rich if they invested.
But OneCoin was not a new financial revolution. It wasn’t even a cryptocurrency. OneCoin turned out to be the world’s biggest crypto scam…
The Man with a Thousand Faces
He goes by the names of Alexandre, Ricardo or Daniel. He calls himself a surgeon or an engineer, Argentinean or Brazilian. He lives with four women at the same time, adapting his story and even his personality traits to each one.
Through the eyes of the victims, filmmaker Sonia Kronlund investigates to find out who is the man hiding himself behind so many identities.
Your Face is Ours: The Dangers of Facial Recognition Software
New York-based tech company Clearview AI is working to identify and compile the faces of every human being on the planet. The firm claims that its database will serve as a force for good, helping to solve crimes and prevent espionage.
But what if Clearview AI’s powerful facial recognition software, that could potentially be used for mass surveillance and profiling, fell into the wrong hands? What if it already has?
