NZ’s best among top offerings in International Film Festival

We’re excited to have the New Zealand International Film Festival back at MTG Century Theatre again this year - starting 21 August. As usual there’s a dynamic mix in the lineup. Opening night is the Aotearoa/New Zealand film We Were Dangerous, directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu and with Taika Waititi as executive producer, you know it’s going to be good. The film is set in the 1950s colonial system, where a group of schoolgirls are sent to Te Moto School for Incorrigible and Delinquent Girls situated on a remote island. A tale of defiance and unbreakable spirits We Were Dangerous looks to be a gripping story – fitting for the opening night and certainly one I am planning to watch.

There are a number of other Aotearoa created films including A Mistake which looks at what, or who, is to blame when a patient dies, Head South follows the coming-of-age creation of a punk rock band in Christchurch, Never Look Away is a documentary about Kiwi Margaret Moth who was a photojournalist for the CNN, and of course New Zealand’s Best 2024 and Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts. An abundance of New Zealand talent on display and something for us all to feel proud of and embrace.

There are plenty of ethical dilemmas as well, with The Teacher’s Lounge set around a series of petty thefts in a secondary school, Sons where a prison guard must choose between forgiveness and revenge, and ­Tatami inspired by a true story where Leila, a competitor at the judo world championship, has her family threatened to try and make her withdraw.

Political commentary abounds. Stories of defiance - Kneecap where an Irish hip hop band rebel against the British trying to quash the Irish language, and taking a stand - Midnight Oil and the influence they had on Australian politics. Different political points of view are explored in The Seed of the Sacred Fig with an Iranian family where the father is part of the government regime, while his daughters are opposed. Other films place a spotlight on human suffering due to political stances - Green Border explores the terror refugees experience between the borders of Poland and Belarus, and No Other Land, a documentary produced by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, follows the residents of a Palestinian village between 2019-2023 as they are forcibly displaced.    

This year MTG Century Theatre is the only venue in Hawke’s Bay showing the film festival. Brochures are available in locations across Napier, Hastings and Havelock North and you can buy advance tickets online at www.mtghawkesbay.com or from the main counter at the museum. Tickets will also be available on the day at the Century Theatre. Please check the programme for ratings and other information. Starting 21 August and running through to 1 September, there are 32 films to choose from – something for everyone.

Published in the Hawke’s Bay Today newspaper on 10 August 2024 and written by Laura Vodanovich, Director at MTG Hawke’s Bay.

Image: We Were Dangerous opens the New Zealand International Film Festival

12 August 2024

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