Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) has announced the line-up of exceptional New Zealand-made feature films, documentaries, and shorts in the 2024 programme, showcasing the increasingly rich talent and diverse storytelling in New Zealand filmmaking. NZIFF 2024 opens in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington on 31 July before touring to nine other centres across the country until 4 September.
Twelve full-length films and 19 shorts make up the ‘Māhutonga’ strand of the programme - a selection of stand-out New Zealand features and documentaries curated by 2024 Artistic Director Paolo Bertolin and Head of Programming Michael McDonnell, and shorts selected by long-time co-curators Leo Koziol and Craig Fasi, and 2024 guest selector Gerard Johnstone. The Māhutonga programme is proudly supported by Creative New Zealand.
Bertolin says, “Aotearoa cinema has reached a defining crossroad. The twelve features and four combined programmes of shorts in Māhutonga reflect the diversity and wealth of subjects and styles in local storytelling. With their films, New Zealand filmmakers provide a vibrant kaleidoscope that enables audiences to look at the past and the present through distinctive perspectives.
“In this selection, our audiences will discover films that are entertaining, thought-provoking, and deeply affecting. Most of all, they will find a space for conversation and exchange on the beauty and complexity of life in Aotearoa. It is our privilege to provide a platform for these inspired and inspiring filmmakers to meet our audience in the communal experience of cinema.”
Congratulations WIFT members who have served a role in the selected feature films: We Were Dangerous, directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu; A Mistake (2024), directed by Christine Jeffs; Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara (2024), directed by Kent Belcher; Grafted (2023), directed by Sasha Rainbow; Taki Rua Theatre - Breaking Barriers (2024), directed by Whetū Fala; The Haka Party Incident (2024), directed by Katie Wolfe.
Read more about each film and team with each film link.
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