| Each feature will be preceded by a 1896 short film, as seen by NZ's first film audiences 120 years ago. There are some real gems in here so make sure you catch some screenings. WIFT members Gaylene Preston - Ruby and Rata, Mr Wrong and Robin Scholes - Once Were Warriors are amongst the NZ film talent that is featured.
5pm, 12 October Rewi's Last Stand/The Last Stand NZ, 1949, 63 min, G A remake of his 1925 silent film of the same name, this is the film the pioneering director Rudall Hayward is best remembered for. It's based on the famous battle of ?r?kau, when Rewi Maniapoto and his 300 supporters resisted the advance of over 2,000 British troops during a siege which lasted for three days. Hayward intended the film as a tribute to the heroism of Maniapoto and his followers; today it stands as a tribute to the enterprise and fortitude of its writer, director and photographer. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
7pm, 12 October Sleeping Dogs NZ, 1977, 104 min, PG-V "Smith is a man on the run, running from a broken marriage. Accidentally caught between two powers - a repressive Government and a violent resistance movement - he becomes a man alone... hunted and hostile, driven by the will to survive." Sleeping Dogs was the feature directorial debut of Roger Donaldson and the film that launched the NZ Film Commission and the acting career of Sam Neil. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
5pm, 13 October Mr Wrong NZ,1985, 88 min, M Gaylene Preston's feature film debut "subversively reworked the familiar plot of the besieged woman." This taut, entertaining, thriller proved there was a local audience for films with female leads, feminist themes and which played with established genre conventions. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
7pm, 13 October Smash Palace NZ, 1981, R16 "After the break-up of his marriage, a racing driver sets out to get back his daughter - at any cost." Roger Donaldson's second feature film was a commercial success, establishing him as a world-class director and Bruno Lawrence as New Zealand's leading man. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
5pm, 14 October Films that shaped New Zealand: a compilation 60 min, Exempt A look at how New Zealand's media has portrayed New Zealand cinema over the decades. Entry by koha
7pm, 14 October Boy NZ, 2010, 84 min, M Taika Waititi's second feature moves away from the grim, dark topics that characterise much New Zealand cinema, with a story of coming of age laced with his characteristic light-hearted humour. It became the highest grossing New Zealand made film at the local box office, until recently replaced by his own Hunt for the Wilderpeople. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
7pm, 15 October Once Were Warriors 1994, RP16-GV Lee Tamahori's brutal, unflinching feature debut stirred up as much controversy as it did success at the box office. Based on Alan Duff's bestselling novel of the same name, it tells the violent, urban, love story of Jake and Beth Heke and featured stunning performances from its leading actors Rena Owen and Temuera Morrison. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
5pm, 19 October Don't Let it Get You NZ, 1966, 76 min, G This feel good musical comedy from Pacific Films was their third feature, and one of the few made during the lean years of New Zealand filmmaking of the 1950s and 1960s. Directed by John O'Shea, featuring an all star cast, including Howard Morrison and Kiri Te Kanawa, on release it was publicised as "a tonic film that doesn't let the blues get you. When it finishes, you feel as if the time has gone too fast and you leave the theatre wanting to see it all over again. $8 - Buy tickets
7pm, 19 October Sione's Wedding NZ, 2004, 93 min, M Reflecting the increasing influence of Pacific Island and Samoan culture in New Zealand, Sione's Wedding is a feature from the comedic minds behind the Naked Samoans comedy group which: "brings the humour, life and colour of Polynesian culture to the big screen." Directed by Chris Graham. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
5pm, 20 October Films that shaped New Zealand: a compilation 60 min, Exempt A look at how New Zealand's media has portrayed New Zealand cinema over the decades. Entry by koha
7pm, 20 October Goodbye Pork Pie NZ, 1981, 102 min, PG-violence One of New Zealand's most popular, enduring and iconic films, Goodbye Pork Pie was the first box office hit of the new wave of films made in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Director Geoff Murphy's tale of two men on the run in a small yellow mini had an anti-authoritarian spirit and covered the breadth of the country, encouraging audiences across New Zealand to view the film. It became the first New Zealand-made film to gross over $1 million at the local box office (nearly $4.5 million today), and scenes from the film remain iconic today. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
5pm, 21 October Patu! NZ, 1983, 101 min, PG Perhaps the most important documentary made in New Zealand, Patu! is a hard hitting view from the frontline of protests that engulfed the country during the 1981 Springbok Tour. Directed by Merata Mita, footage was supplied by a who's who of New Zealand cinema. The result is a powerful, raw, example of agitprop and oppositional filmmaking, from a staunchly M?ori and anti-racist perspective. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
7pm, 21 October Utu Redux NZ, 2013, 109 min, M-violence A restored and re-edited version of Geoff Murphy's classic film Utu. Subverting the traditional Western genre, with a fictional story based during the Land Wars and featuring characters mixed from nineteenth century M?ori leaders, the film was another box office and critical success. It was the first New Zealand film to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival, and after digital restoration by Park Road Post supervised by Murphy and Graeme Cowley in 2013 it looks better than ever. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
7pm, 22 October Whale Rider NZ, 2002, 97 min, PG Niki Caro's adaptation of Whiti Ihimaera's novel of the same name is based on the universal theme of a coming of age story, but set within a specific cultural context of the East Coast Ng?ti Porou legend of Paikea. While made by a P?keh? director, most of the cast are M?ori, many from the local area, and the film is led by an astounding performance by Keisha Castle-Hughes who wasn't yet a teenager at the time. The film is one of New Zealand's most successful performers overseas, beaten out only by Sir Peter Jackson's King Kong and The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings films. $8 / $10 - Buy tickets
See full screening details here.
Thank you to all the filmmakers who kindly gave their permission for Ng? Taonga to publicly share their films, and to Manat? Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the NZ Film Commission for their support.
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