NZIFF Annouce New Zealand Titles
NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCE NEW ZEALAND TITLES
The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) has announced ten outstanding New Zealand films to be screened at this year’s 2015 festival. Rich in documentaries, this year’s selection of New Zealand films feature eight World Premieres, a collection of artist-made shorts and an Incredibly Strange SXSW hit, all of which are sure to excite and thrill New Zealand audiences.
NZIFF have worked long and hard to provide striking work made within our own shores and we salute the filmmakers and their commitment to putting New Zealand and New Zealanders on screen.
NZIFF Director Bill Gosden says, “One of the great pleasures of programming NZIFF is the opportunity we have to showcase our own filmmakers. It’s amusing that NZIFF’s Incredibly Strange programmer Ant Timpson is now working on a production capacity on exactly the kind of film he’s been programming for years."
"Deathgasm is the only fiction feature from New Zealand on the programme this year and it definitely fits with Ant’s brand! The documentaries are a pleasingly diverse bunch with two particularly strong films marking the Crown Settlement with Tuhoe; several addressing international subjects; two portraits of New Zealand artists – and a documentary about New Zealand cinema itself.”
Act of Kindness
Directed
by Costa Botes and Sven Pannell | 81 mins | World
Premiere
Charting the ripple effects of real compassion,
this inspiring true story follows a spirited young New
Zealander’s search for the Rwandan samaritan who assisted
him through a dangerous predicament over ten years before.
Belief: The Possession of Janet
Moses
Director/Screenplay: David Stubbs | 88 mins | World
Premiere
This impressive doco disperses the fog of shame
and sensationalism to shed light on the tragedy that made
international headlines in 2007 when a young Wainuiomata
woman died during a mākutu lifing.
Crossing Rachmaninoff
Directed by Rebecca Tansley | 79 mins | World
Premiere
A winning portrait of Italian-born, Auckland
concert pianist Flavio Villani preparing Rachmaninoff’s
Piano Concerto No. 2 for the biggest night of his career.
As he returns like the prodigal son to Italy for his concert
debut, he must reconcile with his past, overcome
conventional thinking and battle personal demons. A
compelling personal odyssey, Crossing Rachmaninoff also
raises bigger questions about the value of artistic
endeavour, the importance of self-belief and the fundamental
desire to be accepted for who we are.
Deathgasm
Director/Screenplay: Jason Lei Howden | 90 mins
Two
metalheads unleash a satanic riff that opens the gates of
hell in this blood-splattered, heavy shredding
comedy-horror. The winner of the Make My Horror Movie
competition hits home shores after wowing audiences
overseas.
Ever the Land
Director/Photography: Sarah
Grohnert | 90 mins | World Premiere
Observing the
planning and construction of New Zealand’s first ‘living
building’, Te Wharehou o T?hoe, Sarah Grohnert draws on
images of incredible beauty to portray the profound
connection between Ngāi Tūhoe and the land.
Philip
Dadson: Sonics from Scratch
Directors/Producers: Simon
Ogston, Orlando Stewart | 80 mins | World Premiere
As
deeply fascinated by the conceptual as the biographical,
this comprehensive portrait of one of our great experimental
artists is essential viewing for anyone with even a passing
interest in New Zealand art.
Place Unmaking
Curated by
Janine Randerson and Mark Williams | 95 mins approx.
New
Zealand artists are often called upon to engage in
‘place-making’ projects. These 11 works find
contemporary cracks and crevices in the heroic landscape
tradition.
The Price of Peace
Directed by Kim Webby |
87 mins | World Premiere
Kim Webby’s background in
investigative journalism is put to riveting use in this
documentary about Tame Iti and the Urewera Four, taking a
criminal case of national interest to explore a greater
social issue.
Return of the Free China
Junk
Director/Producer: Robin Greenberg | 96 mins | World
Premiere
A historic wooden Chinese sailing junk that
crossed the Pacific in 1955 makes an even more improbable
return journey after the family of its original sailors
campaign to save it from the scrapheap and bring it
home.
Tom Who? The Enigma of Tom Kreisler
Directed by
Shirley Horrocks | 73 min | World Premiere
Shirley
Horrocks’ doco sheds new light on the life and art of Tom
Kreisler, a 20th-century New Zealand painter with scant
interest in landscape but a strong affinity with Mexican
traditions and the wit and verve of Pop Art.
Out of the
Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand
Cinema
Director/Screenplay: Tim Wong | 80 mins | World
Premiere
Tim Wong’s elegantly assembled and illustrated
film essay contemplates the prevailing image of our national
cinema while privileging some of the images and image-makers
displaced by the popular view of filmmaking in New Zealand.
“The directors who have done the most for our artistic
identity haven’t instantly confused it with social and
cultural identity.” — Tim Wong
Addditional
Information
NZIFF programmes will be available in
Auckland from Tuesday 23 June, in Wellington from Friday 26
June, in Dunedin from Tuesday 7 July, and in Christchurch
from Tuesday 14 July with other centres to
follow.
Screening times and regions for all films will be
confirmed at time of programme
launch.