NZ International Film Festival – Part I

Cannes 2014 award winners are among the films to be confirmed for this year’s New Zealand International Film Festival.

Maps to the Stars Julianne Moore won the Best Actress Award for her performance in David Cronenberg’s Hollywood satire.

Winter Sleep Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the Palme d’Or for his epic three-hours plus triangular domestic drama set in Cappadocia about a retired writer, his stifled younger wife and and his recently divorced sister.

The Wonders (Le meraviglie) Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher's story of rural life and a family of beekeepers was a joint winner of the Jury Prize, whose panel this yerar was chaired by New Zealand director Jane Campion. Its offbeat humour has been likened to Little Miss Sunshine.

Leviathan (Liaviafan) This harrowing Russian drama applies the biblical story of Job to the modern abuse of power under President Putin's regime. It won Best Screenplay for director Andrei Zvyagintsev and writer Oleg Negin.

Jimmy’s Hall Ken Loach’s latest Irish resistance story is based on the life of twice-deported Jimmy Gralton, who brought New York dance music to Ireland in the 1930s by reviving a family-founded community hall amid much opposition.

Timbuktu Muslim fundamentalists impose sharia law and ban music in the historic Saharan desert city but they cannot destroy the human spirit in Abderrahmane Sissako's impressive work.

Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes) Argentinian director Damian Szifron's six-part comedy has been described as the unsually raucous hit with Cannes audiences and is a return to a once-popular omnibus format.

White God  (Feher isten) Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo's take on "Who let the dogs out?" has been compared to Hitchock's The Birds for its scenes of canine madness as well as to The Incredible Journey.

Goodbye to Language (Adieu au language) Veteran French director Jean Luc Godard (now 83) ventures into 3D production in his usual idiosyncratic style. This was the other joint winner of the Jury Prize.

All films are confirmed to screen in Auckland and Wellington. Further location listings will be advised on www.nziff.co.nz once availability and distributor arrangements are confirmed.

See part 2 of the preview to the NZ International Film Festival here 

The complete NZIFF programme will be available in Auckland from Tuesday, June 24, and in Wellington from Friday, June 27. NZIFF screens in Auckland from July 17 to August 3 and in Wellington from July 25 to August 10.