This year marks the 50th anniversary of the New Zealand International Film Festival. The festivities will begin on Thursday 19 July, kicking off 18 days and 155 feature-length films coming from 40 countries.
This year’s festival will feature a series of retrospective screenings that will mark the 50th anniversary. They have been programmed by NZIFF Director Bill Gosden to screen in-amongst the world and New Zealand premieres selected for the festival to reflect the range of cinema experiences that NZIFF has celebrated across the last 50 years.
The retrospective screenings will culminate in the screening of Buster Keaton’s The General at the Civic with live musical performance by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, on Sunday 5 August. An exhibition of NZIFF posters and newspaper clippings from the archives will be displayed at the ASB Waterfront Theatre during festival season.
NZIFF have previously announced that 29 films direct from the Cannes Film Festival are confirmed to screen. Eleven are from the Competition section of the festival including Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters, Jury Prize winner Capharnaüm and Best Screenplay winners (tied) 3 Faces and Happy As Lazzaro. Birds of Passage, the opening night film from the 2018 Directors’ Fortnight will also be opening NZIFF in Auckland on Thursday 19 July. Cold Warfrom Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski(Ida), winner of the Best Director prize, will screen as the official closing night film ofNZIFF.
Of the 155 feature-length films in the programme, 49 are features or documentaries by female filmmakers. Eleven New Zealand-made films, including six world premieres in Auckland, have previously been announced.
The full Auckland NZIFF programme is available online now:https://www.nziff.co.nz/2018/auckland/NZIFF
NZIFF starts in Auckland on 19 July and runs until 5 August in 2018.
Animation NOW! the festival dedicated to the latest in world animation screens the following weekend, 10 –12 August at the Academy Cinema in 2018.
