The 2026 New Zealand International Film Festival is just around the corner for another year, running from July 29 to September 9.
The festival features over 100 films, from acclaimed international directors to Kiwi auteurs alike.
Entertainment correspondent Steve Newall outlined his picks.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks edb.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Evil deed Burn and you and I have been talking
a little bit about this film because it's, uh, it
takes some stamina. Let's have let's have a listen. Let's
have a listen to the trailer. We found you William
by Sweet Boy. I would give anything for us to
(00:37):
be together again.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Our grandfather believe the devil would return if anyone read
from the Book of the Dead. The whole family.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Can be reunited, and the Book of the Dead delivers
once again. This is the sixth film, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yes, so there's an original trilogy and then it's got
rebooted around twenty thirteen, and since then they've been shot
in New Zealand, which we kind of jumped, I guess
jumped that Cubey being the location for Ash Versus Evil Dead,
the TV series, which had a lot more of a
kind of comical flavor than these new Evil Dead films.
Ye know, we've got the pretty full on and you
(01:27):
get a hint of that from the classification. It's rated
R sixteen for horror, graphic violence and offensive language. Might
be underselling it a little bit, to be honest.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
At the moment, there's lots of horrors out and about.
You've got back rooms, you've got obsession and things like that.
But I'm not entirely sure that a younger generation of
horror watches they actually going to be able to cope
with this see them a little by surprise.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Statistic was a word that came to mind from out
to seeing this and look, that's all kind of part
of the fun. But this takes a I think a
kind of final destination sort of joy and inflicting pain
on people with a lot of household objects. It is
a undead tormenting the film, but mostly set in a
big family home, and it's kind of maybe a bit
(02:11):
more claustrophobic than that sounds. I really liked how action
packed this was, maybe sort of from about the sort
of twenty thirty minute market, just doesn't lead up for
the whole runtime of the film. This chap in front
of me before the film started talked about how he
doesn't like seeing hand stuff and horrors, lots of hand stuff,
lots of hands getting.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
MUTI later, yeah, no, absolutely, but I think no.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Matter what body part your my squeamish of of its
probably something in evil Dead Burn to disturb you.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, these are cockclassics. They're hugely popular all around the
world and pretty much half the cast of Kiwis and
they do it a nice excellent job.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yes, Tandy right of course, but and Eryl Shand, who
is terrifying in this film brilliant. Also one of the
highlights of New Zealand horror film Mademer last year for
very similar reasons. Really really terrifying screen presence.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
No so great cast, lots of gore, lots of blood.
It's definitely you know, it's a genre.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
This is horror for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Okay for people who have maybe some more discerning taste
in movies. The New Zealand International Film FESTI will release
their program on Monday night, which was very exciting. I
already have a program filled with post it notes as
I try and you know you know what I mean,
like you try and work your way through it to
see what you must see, what you'd like to see.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
One hundred percent. You know, it's such a ritual sitting
down for me with the physical programmer going through it.
It's how you pick up on films you've missed through
there's so many, so many announcements, so many things competing
for your attention. But also it is great every year
to sit down and use their online wish list function
on the Okay website, so you can add films to
(03:48):
your wish list and it builds your calendar for you,
so you can figure out all your clashes, make your
decisions about what to do each day. Like it's a
you know, it's the it's the more interactive version, I
guess of scribbling on the on the calendar inside the
program itself. Mine's kind of coming together. I've got too
many things jostling for position, but I'll figure that out
over the next sort of week or so. Tickets are
(04:09):
on sale now, so it's kind of good to start
getting organized.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
If you step if you step back and you look
at this festival, what was you what were your sort
of your overall thoughts of the quality of the work here.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
It's again kind of spans lots of different ground. There's
films coming from the big film festivals, there's a slew
of really strong looking local features, and then there's just
oddities that you're sort of find scattered through the program
that might take like the second or third kind of
look through to find so the standouts for me of
the previously announcement that they've been drip feeding titles now
(04:40):
for the last month or two local picks documentary Lomu Mum,
I'm Alien Pregnant, which I'm so sold on based on
the title I think.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I don't think, I'm probably embargoed. I'm probably not allowed
to say. I have seen it and it is as
absolutely wonderful and crazy as the titles.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
A fantastic The Ungrateful Tenants has my attention as well,
a black and white, silent scored film about the housing
crisis okay maybe from the horrors of the tenants point
of view. And opening night film Big Girls Don't Cry,
which was recently announced as the grand pre winner at
Beerit's Film Festival by Kristen Stewart, who's really impressed. And
(05:20):
then the international picks that had sort of previously jumped
out were Alpha Fatherland, I Want Your Sex, and best
title of the film of the film Festival. Actually maybe
up there with Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant is Teenage Sex
and Death at Camp Miasma, which I don't know if
any film describes any title describes a camp set horror
film better than that?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
How do you go through it?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Like I was.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
When I was going through there were directors that were
jumping out at me, like Jim Jomush and Gus Van
Sant and I'm going, oh, wonderful new works from them.
But actually, you're right. You need to kind of also
just you mon't recognize anybody about in these films, but
you just kind of need to read the blurb and
kind of sort of you know, is something about the
story capture your attention?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
I think. So There's definitely been titles that I've been
looking out for. It's great to see The Fox in
this year's festival, Jai Courtney starring opposite Talking Fox voiced
by Olivia Coleman, who's giving him advice on his fiances. Sadly, yeah,
Sam Neil is a talking magpie, not a kid's film,
not an animated film. I should, I should, I should stress.
(06:25):
I was also really pleased to see The Best Summer
and they've been hanging up for this for a while.
This filmmaker Tamra Davison. This sets off across Australia with
a camcorder in the mid nineties. She's on tour with
a whole bunch of alternative bands on a festival tour,
including Beastie Boys, Bikini Killed, Foo Fighters, Pavements. So maybe
the best old music lineup of the nineties there. So
(06:47):
that'll be fun. But then things that I didn't really
know about until taking a kind of second look at
the listening. So, I mean, would you double take at
a film called The History of Concrete, for example, doesn't
necessarily jump.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Out engineer, I might, well, exactly, I think.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It might have a really specific audience, and it kind
of does, but in a different way. Director is John Wilson.
He's got a fantastic show called how Too with John
Wilson that had a couple of seasons. He's already really
idiosyncratic kind of editor, finding connections between things that don't
really make sense until he pulls them together in the edit.
Really humorous, really heartfelt, and the concept of this film
(07:24):
is he goes to a workshop about how to make
and sell a Hallmark movie, like a kind of mushy
made for TV movie, and tries to apply those lessons
to create and sell the documentary about Concrete.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Thank you so much, Steve. Good suggestions there if you'd
like to find out more. Head to inzidi if dot
co dot zed.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
live to news talks there'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks edb.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Evil deed Burn and you and I have been talking
a little bit about this film because it's, uh, it
takes some stamina. Let's have let's have a listen. Let's
have a listen to the trailer. We found you William
by Sweet Boy. I would give anything for us to
(00:37):
be together again.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Our grandfather believe the devil would return if anyone read
from the Book of the Dead. The whole family.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Can be reunited, and the Book of the Dead delivers
once again. This is the sixth film, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Yes, so there's an original trilogy and then it's got
rebooted around twenty thirteen, and since then they've been shot
in New Zealand, which we kind of jumped, I guess
jumped that Cubey being the location for Ash Versus Evil Dead,
the TV series, which had a lot more of a
kind of comical flavor than these new Evil Dead films.
Ye know, we've got the pretty full on and you
(01:27):
get a hint of that from the classification. It's rated
R sixteen for horror, graphic violence and offensive language. Might
be underselling it a little bit, to be honest.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
At the moment, there's lots of horrors out and about.
You've got back rooms, you've got obsession and things like that.
But I'm not entirely sure that a younger generation of
horror watches they actually going to be able to cope
with this see them a little by surprise.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Statistic was a word that came to mind from out
to seeing this and look, that's all kind of part
of the fun. But this takes a I think a
kind of final destination sort of joy and inflicting pain
on people with a lot of household objects. It is
a undead tormenting the film, but mostly set in a
big family home, and it's kind of maybe a bit
(02:11):
more claustrophobic than that sounds. I really liked how action
packed this was, maybe sort of from about the sort
of twenty thirty minute market, just doesn't lead up for
the whole runtime of the film. This chap in front
of me before the film started talked about how he
doesn't like seeing hand stuff and horrors, lots of hand stuff,
lots of hands getting.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
MUTI later, yeah, no, absolutely, but I think no.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Matter what body part your my squeamish of of its
probably something in evil Dead Burn to disturb you.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Yeah, these are cockclassics. They're hugely popular all around the
world and pretty much half the cast of Kiwis and
they do it a nice excellent job.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yes, Tandy right of course, but and Eryl Shand, who
is terrifying in this film brilliant. Also one of the
highlights of New Zealand horror film Mademer last year for
very similar reasons. Really really terrifying screen presence.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
No so great cast, lots of gore, lots of blood.
It's definitely you know, it's a genre.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
This is horror for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Okay for people who have maybe some more discerning taste
in movies. The New Zealand International Film FESTI will release
their program on Monday night, which was very exciting. I
already have a program filled with post it notes as
I try and you know you know what I mean,
like you try and work your way through it to
see what you must see, what you'd like to see.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
One hundred percent. You know, it's such a ritual sitting
down for me with the physical programmer going through it.
It's how you pick up on films you've missed through
there's so many, so many announcements, so many things competing
for your attention. But also it is great every year
to sit down and use their online wish list function
on the Okay website, so you can add films to
(03:48):
your wish list and it builds your calendar for you,
so you can figure out all your clashes, make your
decisions about what to do each day. Like it's a
you know, it's the it's the more interactive version, I
guess of scribbling on the on the calendar inside the
program itself. Mine's kind of coming together. I've got too
many things jostling for position, but I'll figure that out
over the next sort of week or so. Tickets are
(04:09):
on sale now, so it's kind of good to start
getting organized.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
If you step if you step back and you look
at this festival, what was you what were your sort
of your overall thoughts of the quality of the work here.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
It's again kind of spans lots of different ground. There's
films coming from the big film festivals, there's a slew
of really strong looking local features, and then there's just
oddities that you're sort of find scattered through the program
that might take like the second or third kind of
look through to find so the standouts for me of
the previously announcement that they've been drip feeding titles now
(04:40):
for the last month or two local picks documentary Lomu Mum,
I'm Alien Pregnant, which I'm so sold on based on
the title I think.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I don't think, I'm probably embargoed. I'm probably not allowed
to say. I have seen it and it is as
absolutely wonderful and crazy as the titles.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
A fantastic The Ungrateful Tenants has my attention as well,
a black and white, silent scored film about the housing
crisis okay maybe from the horrors of the tenants point
of view. And opening night film Big Girls Don't Cry,
which was recently announced as the grand pre winner at
Beerit's Film Festival by Kristen Stewart, who's really impressed. And
(05:20):
then the international picks that had sort of previously jumped
out were Alpha Fatherland, I Want Your Sex, and best
title of the film of the film Festival. Actually maybe
up there with Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant is Teenage Sex
and Death at Camp Miasma, which I don't know if
any film describes any title describes a camp set horror
film better than that?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
How do you go through it?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Like I was.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
When I was going through there were directors that were
jumping out at me, like Jim Jomush and Gus Van
Sant and I'm going, oh, wonderful new works from them.
But actually, you're right. You need to kind of also
just you mon't recognize anybody about in these films, but
you just kind of need to read the blurb and
kind of sort of you know, is something about the
story capture your attention?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
I think. So There's definitely been titles that I've been
looking out for. It's great to see The Fox in
this year's festival, Jai Courtney starring opposite Talking Fox voiced
by Olivia Coleman, who's giving him advice on his fiances. Sadly, yeah,
Sam Neil is a talking magpie, not a kid's film,
not an animated film. I should, I should, I should stress.
(06:25):
I was also really pleased to see The Best Summer
and they've been hanging up for this for a while.
This filmmaker Tamra Davison. This sets off across Australia with
a camcorder in the mid nineties. She's on tour with
a whole bunch of alternative bands on a festival tour,
including Beastie Boys, Bikini Killed, Foo Fighters, Pavements. So maybe
the best old music lineup of the nineties there. So
(06:47):
that'll be fun. But then things that I didn't really
know about until taking a kind of second look at
the listening. So, I mean, would you double take at
a film called The History of Concrete, for example, doesn't
necessarily jump.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Out engineer, I might, well, exactly, I think.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
It might have a really specific audience, and it kind
of does, but in a different way. Director is John Wilson.
He's got a fantastic show called how Too with John
Wilson that had a couple of seasons. He's already really
idiosyncratic kind of editor, finding connections between things that don't
really make sense until he pulls them together in the edit.
Really humorous, really heartfelt, and the concept of this film
(07:24):
is he goes to a workshop about how to make
and sell a Hallmark movie, like a kind of mushy
made for TV movie, and tries to apply those lessons
to create and sell the documentary about Concrete.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Thank you so much, Steve. Good suggestions there if you'd
like to find out more. Head to inzidi if dot
co dot zed.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
live to news talks there'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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