Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) is back from next month(!). Today they’ve announced their local lineup.
On July 31st, the 2024 edition of NZIFF gets underway in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Over the next weeks, the festival touches down in nine other centres in Aotearoa before coming to a close on 4 September. As we count down to the fest, they’ve shared their local programming, with a dozen full-length films and 19 shorts making up the ‘Māhutonga’ programme strand.
This year’s opening night film(s) celebrate Aotearoa filmmaking, with recent SXSW hit We Were Dangerous (winner of special Jury Award for Filmmaking in the Narrative Feature Competition) opening the festival in all centres—except Ōtautahi Christchurch (more on that later). Directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, We Were Dangerous stars Rima Te Wiata and a trio of young actors, bringing to life this 1950s-set drama about three girls sent to an isolated island, an institution for delinquents. Check out the just-released trailer:
Head South kicks off the fest in Ōtautahi, a fitting honour for Jonathan Ogilvie’s ode to the city and its post punk scene of the late 1970s. The music-drenched coming-of-age drama stars Australian Ed Oxenbould as a teenager picking up the bass after being swept up in the live music scene—and hoping to impress a guitarist he meets (Stella Bennett aka Benee).
Other NZ features for 2024: A Mistake, directed by Christine Jeffs; Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara, directed by Kent Belcher; Grafted, directed by Sasha Rainbow; I Am a Dark River, directed by Tessa Mitchell; Marimari, directed by Paul Wolffram; Night Piece, directed by Bridget Sutherland; Taki Rua Theatre – Breaking Barriers, directed by Whetū Fala; The Haka Party Incident, directed by Katie Wolfe; The House Within, directed by Joshua Prendeville; and the previously-announced Never Look Away, directed by Lucy Lawless.
Returning short film sessions Ngā Whanaunga Māori and Pasifika Shorts and New Zealand’s Best bring the fest’s pick of short films into cinemas, with NZ’s Best selected this year by director Gerard Johnstone (M3GAN, The Jaquie Brown Diaries). And in Short Connections, five promising new Aotearoa shorts deftly capture the bonds and binds between us.
Ngā Whanaunga Māori and Pasifika Shorts 2024
My Brother (Director, Screenplay: Misa Tupou)
Butterfly/Bataplai (Director, Producer, Screenplay, Editor: Veialu Aila-Unsworth)
The Great South (Director, Screenplay: Taniora Ormsby)
The Red Room (Director, Screenplay: Alex Liu)
Show Home (Director: Jane Shearer)
Hands of Fate (Director: Sima Urale)
Chatterbox (Director: Tainui Tukiwaho)
New Zealand’s Best 2024
I See You (Director, Screenplay: Briar March)
First Horse (Director: Awanui Simich-Pene)
Grateful Grapefruit (Director, Screenplay, Producer, Editor: Sam Handley)
Rochelle (Director, Screenplay, Editor: Tom Furniss)
Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue (Director: Vea Mafile’o)
Short Connections 2024
Payback (Director, Screenplay: Mia Blake)
The Sea Inside Her (Director: Alyx Duncan)
Earthlings (Director, Screenplay: Jamie Lawrence)
Lost at Sea (Director, Screenplay: Asuka Sylvie)
The Lascar (Director, Screenplay: Adi Parige)
In Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, NZIFF celebrates New Zealand film in Aotearoa Film Focus, taking place at Auckland’s ASB Waterfront Theatre.
As the NZIFF media release explains: “Across three days and four nights, audiences can enjoy films, a new exhibition by the New Zealand Cinematography Society – Still Stories, panel discussions, a workshop, a masterclass, filmmaker Q&A events, and a gig! Exclusive to the weekend will also be a tribute to iconoclast Garth Maxwell, showcasing his recent MoMa purchase Naughty Little Peeptoe and the remastered version of his early work Come with Us.”
NZIFF 2024 dates and venues:
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington (31 July – 11 August) – The Embassy, Roxy Cinema, Light House Cinema Cuba
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (7 – 18 August) – The Civic, Hollywood Avondale, ASB Auckland Waterfront Theatre
Ōtepoti Dunedin (14 – 25 August) – The Regent Theatre
Whakatū Nelson (14 – 25 August) – State Cinemas
Ōtautahi Christchurch (15 August – 1 September) – Lumière Cinemas
Tauranga Moana (15 – 28 August) – Luxe Cinemas
Ahuriri Napier (21 August – 1 September) – MTG Century Theatre
Kirikiriroa Hamilton (21 August – 4 September) – LIDO Cinema
Ngāmotu New Plymouth (21 August – 4 September) – Len Lye Cinema
Whakaoriori Masterton (21 August – 4 September) – Regent 3
