Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival: Ten must-see movies to seek out
Saturday, 20 July 2024
New Zealand’s annual feast of global cinema is back.
Rolling out in 10 towns and cities across the motu from July 31 to September 4, the Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2024 edition includes a selection of top titles that have graced the likes of Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. As usual, the line-up offers something for everyone, from devastating dramas to quirky comedies and documentaries on a wide range of subjects.
Stuff to Watch has had the opportunity to view a number of the more than 80 titles and has come up with this list of 10 terrific, widely screening films that we believe are well worth checking out.
Evil Does Not Exist
Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi follows up his critically acclaimed 2021 double bill of Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and Drive My Car with this equally absorbing drama about a small town whose inhabitants find their quiet way of life is under threat when a company decides to try and establish a glamping business in the area.
A tale which cleverly switches perspectives and focus, as the residents battle the business over a number of environmental and social concerns.
Green Border
A multiple winner at last year’s Venice Film Festival, veteran Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s (TV’s The Wire, Mr. Jones) intimate epic is the harrowing tale of a family of Syrian refugees’ attempts to get to Sweden.
What was supposed to be a simple journey becomes a nightmare, as they find themselves bouncing between Belarus and Poland, treated with disdain and inhumanely by border guards on both sides.
Told in a series of chapters, it also focuses on those trying to help them and a Polish guard caught between his conscience and the orders he’s been tasked with carrying out.
Head South
The opening night film in Christchurch, this 1979 Otautahi-set dramedy is a coming-of-age tale drawn from writer-director Jonathan Ogilvie’s own experiences.
Ed Oxenbould (Paper Planes) is Angus, a troubled teen whose eager-to-impress attitude means he suddenly finds himself as an opening musical act, despite only a very basic knowledge of bass-playing and not actually having any bandmates.
The delightful cast of this evocative tale also includes Marton Csokas and Stella “Benee” Bennett.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
A kind of a cross between What We Do in the Shadows and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Canadian writer-director Ariane Louis-Seize feature debut is a Montreal-set, French-language tale about a sensitive teenage vampire determined not to follow the family tradition of killing humans for her blood.
But as Sasha (Sara Montpetit) battles her parents and struggles with her own body’s needs, an unlikely potential solution arrives in the form of the depressed Paul ( Félix-Antoine Bénard).
In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon
Prolific documentarian Alex Gibney follows portraits of Frank Sinatra, Steve Jobs, James Brown and Lance Armstrong, with this two-part, three-and-a-half hour look at the life and music of one of the most beloved American hit makers.
While built around the recording of his most recent album Seven Psalms, the delights are in the now 82-year-old’s candid recollections of the highs and lows of his career and the archival footage of his performances with and without Art Garfunkel, appearances on Saturday Night Live and forgotten moments like the time he and John Lennon teamed up to present Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 1975.
Kneecap
A potent mix of Derry Girls, Trainspotting, 24 Hour Party People and The Commitments, British writer-director Rich Peppiatt dramatises the controversial rise of the eponymous Irish hip-hop group.
Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvai play themselves in this – sometimes – outrageously anarchic tale that also offers a resonant clarion call for the preservation of indigenous languages.
Look out for Michael Fassbender in an ethereal, but key role.
Never Look Away
Premiering at January’s Sundance Film Festival, Kiwi actor Lucy Lawless’ directorial debut is a documentary on groundbreaking New Zealand-born camerawoman Margaret Moth, whose fearlessness in capturing footage of the world’s conflict zones came at great personal cost.
Through a mix of archival and modern-day interviews with those closely connected to her, animated sequences and incredible visuals shot by Moth herself, this doesn’t shy away from presenting its subject as someone who certainly had her demons and eccentricities, but was committed to showing the world humanity amongst atrocities.
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus
Shot just months before the Japanese composer and pianist’s death in March 2023, this is his last gift to the world, a 103-minute “concert” which sees him perform all his greatest works, including pieces from his scores to movies Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, The Last Emperor and The Sheltering Sky.
Captured in brooding black-and-white by his son Neo Sora, it’s actually the occasional mis-steps and pauses that give this an extra layer of drama and poignancy.
The Teachers’ Lounge
Rightly nominated for Best International Feature at this year’s Academy Awards, this German drama features fabulous central performance from Babylon Berlin and Around the World in 80 Days’ Leonie Benesch.
She plays Carla Nowak, an idealistic educator who finds herself increasing offside with both the administration and her colleagues at her new school when it is hit by a series of thefts and student behavioural issues.
We Were Dangerous
Set and shot on Banks Peninsula’s Ōtamahua (Quail Island), Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s (Waru) debut feature has already received international acclaim, taking home a Special Jury Prize at March’s SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.
It revolves around the School of Incorrigible and Delinquent Girls, a 1950s establishment initially aimed at reforming “troubled” young women into obedient, marriageble ladies and a trio of students (Erana James, Manaia Hall, Nathalie Morris) determined to defy their devout matron (Rima Te Wiata) and make their escape.
Kicking off in Wellington on July 31, this year’s edition of Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival will also visit Auckland (August 7-18), Napier (August 22-September 1), Christchurch (August 15-September 1), Dunedin (August 14-25), New Plymouth (August 21-September 7), Masterton (August 21-September 4), Hamilton (August 21-September 4), Tauranga (August 15-28) and Nelson (August 14-25).