New Zealand Film Festival Reveals Line-Up
The New Zealand Film Festival has revealed this year’s programme including ten New Zealand films.
- Act of Kindness is an “inspiring true story (that) 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 is a “cautionary tale that (hopefully) starts conversations around where spirituality sits in our community, and why many beliefs are still held secret”, said David Stubbs, the movie’s director.
- Crossing Rachmaninoff is a portray of Flavio Villani, an Italian-born Auckland concert pianist, who came to Auckland with 26 to study performance at Auckland University.
- Deathgasm, directed by Jason Lei Howden is about two teenage boys, who unleash evil by playing an unrecorded song of one of their death metal idols as everyone in earshot of their jam session is turned into demonic zombies.
- Ever the Land “draws on images of incredible beauty to portray the profound connection between Ngāi Tūhoe and the land” while “Observing the planning and construction of New Zealand’s first ‘living building’, Te Wharehou o Tūhoe”.
- Out of the Mist: An Alternate History of New Zealand Cinema. Tim Wong’ film essay “contemplates the prevailing image of our national cinema” but also advocates non mainstream New Zealand films and their makers.
- Philip Dadson: Sonics From Scratch is a portrait of Philip Dadson, an experimential Kiwi artist, who is best known for his avant-garde ensemble From Scratch, which used “everything from old lampshades to customised PVC pipes to perform its intricate, rhythmic compositions.”
- The Price of Peace. Director “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, directed by Robin Greenberg traces the journey of Loo-Chi Hu (Christchurch tai chi master) and his five mates from Taiwan to San Francisco in 1955, on which they crossed the Pacific in a wooden Chinese sailing junk.
- Tom Who? The Enigma of Tom Kreisler directed by Shirley Horrocks, is a documentary on 20th century New Zealand painter Tom Kreisler. He “was known as the local art teacher and bohemian (and) the man of wild parties”, but only few knew that he was an extraordinary artist himself.
The festival opens in Auckland from July 16 until August 2 with screenings at the Civic, SkyCity Theatre, Rialto Cinemas, Event Cinemas Queen St and Academy Cinema.
Article Source: New Zealand Film Festival, 2015.
Image Source: Twitter – New Zealand Film Festival
