The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) has added an exciting batch of “pop culture” films to the 2014 programme. The seven films are:
The Congress
Will play in Auckland and Wellington
Crossing between animation and live-action, this science fiction drama stars Robin Wright as Robin Wright, the eye-catching co-lead of 1987’s The Princess Bride who is now aging and out of work. When Mirramount Studios shows a desire to 3D scan her bodily image for use in computer-generated movies – with the promise that this “new” Robin will stay forever young – Wright accept the deal and the enormous pay check with it. The following two decades see a dramatic change in the distribution of the 3D Robin, as well as the animated world she resides in. From the Israeli director of the animated documentary Waltz with Bashir.
Consuming Spirits
Will play in Auckland and Wellington
“Twisted tales of desperate lives are lethally intertwined in this wondrously detailed epic of American Gothic, the black comic masterwork of Chris Sullivan, who produced, wrote, directed, animated, photographed, edited, and worked on the music over a period of 15 years.” — NZIFF
Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?
Will play in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Christchurch, Nelson, Hamilton and Palmerston North
Michel Gondry, the critically praised filmmaker behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Mood Indigo, reconstructs a filmed conversation between himself and philosopher Noam Chomsky through hand-drawn animation.
Patema Inverted
Will play in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch
“After the interstellar disorientations of Gravity, here’s an anime which mucks with up and down. Patema, a perky teen girl, lives in a post-disaster underground world. During her explorations, she falls into a chasm and ends up on the surface. The snag is, it’s an upside-down surface, with upside-down people, where she’s always in great danger of plunging into the sky. Luckily, Patema’s helped by a surface boy her age (confusingly called Age). The adventures which follow will flip both their perspectives… Patema Inverted is a highly likeable mix of simplicity and sophistication, an SF “conceptual breakthrough” yarn where a boy can fall for an upside-down girl.” — Andrew Osmond, SFX
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Will play in all NZIFF centres.
“The co-founder of the legendary Studio Ghibli, director Isao Takahata, is perhaps not as well-known as his younger colleague, Hayao Miyazaki. His talents, however, are no less remarkable. In 1988, his animated masterpiece, Grave of the Fireflies, was released simultaneously with Miyazaki’s much-loved My Neighbour Toroto. Twenty-seven years later, Miyazaki’s reputed last film, The Wind Rises, is released alongside 78-year-old Takahata’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Takahata has always been considered the most realistic of the pair, but in his latest film he sheds that label. The story of a humble bamboo cutter who finds a miniature princess is Japan’s oldest-known folk tale, dating back centuries. The princess and her elderly adoptive parents live a poor but idyllic life, until dreams of grandeur intervene. Takahata’s exquisite animation renders this timeless tale in soft hues and delicate lines, like a beautifully illustrated fable complete with its requisite moral lesson.” — Sydney Film Festival 2014
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (3D)
Will play in all NZIFF centres.
Family adventure from visually frenetic French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie), directing this English-language adaptation of Reif Larsen’s debut novel. A 12-year-old genius secretly leaves his family ranch in Montana to receive an award at the Smithsonian Institute, where they have mistaken him for an adult.
Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
Will play in Auckland and Wellington
“There is something inherently satisfying in pairing gangsters and movie makers…Totally outrageous but surprisingly successful on its own terms, this wild melange of yakuza wars and student filmmaking marks Japanese veteran Sion Sono’s return to the Suicide Club genre, with farcical teenage rom com thrown in as an extra.” — Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter
In 2014, NZIFF will screen from mid-July through to late September:
Auckland 17 July – 3 August
Wellington 25 July – 10 August
Dunedin (with Gore) 31 July – 17 August, Gore 13 – 24 August
Christchurch (with Nelson and Timaru) 7 – 24 August, Nelson 6 – 24 August, Timaru 14 – 24 August
Central North Island: 20 August – 14 September
(Napier 20 August – 7 September | Tauranga 21 August – 14 September | Hamilton 21 August – 14 September)
Lower North Island: 3 – 21 September
(Masterton 3 – 17 September | New Plymouth and Palmerston North 4 – 21 September)
The NZIFF programme for Auckland will be announced on Monday 23 June and for Wellington on Thursday 26 June. Tickets will be on sale in Auckland from Friday 27 June via Ticketmaster, and in Wellington from Tuesday 1 July via the NZIFF website
