Steve Newall: Flicks.co.nz editor reveals his recommendations for the 2024 New Zealand International Film Festival

The Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) kicks off at the end of the month, with plenty for Kiwis to check out.

Organisers have unveiled a full programme of feature films, documentaries and short films, leaving film fans plenty of options to choose from.

Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall unveils his picks here today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks, EDB, Entertainment Time.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now and Steve Neil, editor at flicks dot co dot Nz,
joins me.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
Good morning, Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
The New Zealand International Film Festival program is out, that wonderful, big,
glorious program which I just love getting a cup of
tea and syncing into. And of course the festival is
going to kick off in a couple of weeks. Of
people are going to be keen to book their tickets.
Give us some recommendations.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah, we'll trying to steal one hundred and five odd
films down for just a few recommendations. Tickets are on
South of Wellington now, So I think get paying attention
to get a program, to start, start making a schedule.
But a few things to look out for. I haven't
seen this yet, but New Zealand film We Were Dangerous
is the opening night film and all centers except christ Church.
Christ Church is a film called Head South, which is

(01:04):
a kind of memoir set in the city's post punk
scene of the late seventies. But everywhere else that's not
reminiscing about their own cities past we'll get this film
by Josephine Stewart, to Fear, and it stars Rema Tewiata
and a trio of young actors. Some young woman sent
to an isolated island that's an institution for delinquents in

(01:27):
the nineteen fifties. Needless to say, they don't really like
going there.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
No, they don't.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
I've seen it.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
I think it's going to be a beautiful way to
start the festival. It is really moving, it's a powerful story,
but it's also dealt with with a little bit of
likeness as well, so there's some lovely humor in there. Fabulous,
really great performance, especially by the young talent.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
From It's from its subject matter and that comment about
the talent that doesn't feel a million miles away from
Heavenly Creatures, which is also getting some anniversary screenings as
the festivals, So it'll be great to see Peter Jackson's.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Okay, I've took it off my list screen next please.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
I Saw the TV Glow. This is probably going to
be the be the sort of more alternative leaning hit
of the festival. It's a film about two youngsters brought
together by their shared love of a late night cult
TV show. Then when one of them disappears from their
small town life, it creates a really interesting and sort

(02:21):
of tragic spiral for the friend that's left behind. There's
there's lots of metaphors here, meditations on gender identity, on
on roads not taken, great soundtrack. It's an a twenty
four film. It's a real indie day.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
I like it.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
This is going to be a yep if you've ever
had trouble sleeping, or more to the point, if you've
ever shared a bedroom of someone that does. There's a
Korean film called Sleep that is going to scare the
living daylights out of here. It follows a pregnant pregnant
wife who's starting to get a bit uneasy about her
husband's sleeping habits and a little bit of like mumbling,

(02:58):
a little bit of sleepwalking.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Running way worse.

Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, that's that's going to be a real treat. I
love the idea that you can go home and then
like that night go oh yeah, I hate this. What's
that noise you just made? Also in the kind of
slightly more offbeat territory, The Substance starring to Me Moore
and Margaret Qually.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Oh Yes, hearing a lot about this.

Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yes, so this is a kind of body horror in
the vein of maybe like a David Cronenberg flick, but
more from a female perspective about a TV fitness instructor
who combating aging starts a mysterious new treatment called the substance.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
This caused quite a stirid candon't it.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Yeah, it's a bit of a bit of a gross one,
I reckon, okay.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
And then of course this is really good to get
some of the sort of the hidden gems because a
lot of the names as people flick through the guy
and a lot of people will recognize some of the
films which have been spoken about recently that maybe been
doing very well at the film festival.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
It'll take a few passes to get to the bottom
of I think one last off throw in because this
is such a film festival thing. Please excuse my poor pronunciation.
Menu place les TOI gros. This is a four hour
long documentary about a three Michelin star restaurant in France.
No narration, just in the zone, observing, observing patient. It's

(04:17):
from director Frederick Wiseman, who's got a history of making
these sorts of films really new Zealand International Film Festival,
the only place you're likely to'll go and watch a
four hour.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Documentary about film. There are food eads out there who
just love sitting and watching films with food and don't
talk to me, just let me watch this.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Kind and within the context of an event like this.
It really is one of the few times I'd even
consider carving that much time out to sit in a
movie theater. I'm really looking forward to it.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
Hey, thirty seconds, long legs, long Legs and Cinema Stage Today.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Classified R sixteen bloody violence, horror and defensive language.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Sums it up.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
Yeah, It's like a more occult version of silence than Lambs. Perhaps.
It follows a Youngish FBI agent, Micah Monroe. She's on
the hunt in the nineties for a bizarre serial killer
who leaves kind of Zodiac killer style notes. Nicholas Cade
is absolutely terrifying in this film. They've withheld his appearance
from the trailers and photos for a reason. This is

(05:13):
really awesome, super creepy out this week. Possibly not enough
people talking about it, so check out long with.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Oh he is so good. I'm loving Nicholas Cage in
sort of this career revival he is having. Thank you
so much, Steve for more information, If you want to
have a look at the program inzidiff dot co. Dot
zed is where you can go.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
live to News Talk ZB from nine am Sunday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio