The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) () is a

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

held annually across

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The festival is operated by the New Zealand Film Festival Trust. It programmes international and New Zealand films.

History

The festival grew through a merger in 1984 of the Auckland International Film Festival (founded in 1969) and the Wellington Film Festival (founded 1972). In 2009, the festival didn't use regional names and united the various festivals under the banner of the New Zealand International Film Festival (using the abbreviation 'NZIFF'). Until then, each region had been promoted with the region’s name despite having shared a common programme and artwork since 2002. The festival has a tradition of supporting New Zealand filmmakers and

New Zealand cinema The cinema of New Zealand refers to films made by New Zealand–based production companies in New Zealand or films made about New Zealand by filmmakers from other countries. New Zealand produces many films that are co-financed by overseas comp ...

. In 1996 the New Zealand Film Festival Trust was set up by Bill Sheat, the founding chairperson who remained in that role until 2003. In 2019 long-serving festival Director Bill Gosden retired after 40 years of service. "I look back with pride on the astounding array of national and international filmmaking that has found its first New Zealand audience at NZIFF. I leave with great confidence that whoever steps up next will be working with a remarkable and cohesive crew who love NZIFF and know it backwards.” said Gosden. New Director Marten Rabarts was appointed in October 2019. Gosden died on the seventh of November 2020. In early 2020 General Manager Sharon Byrne resigned from the festival after more than twenty years of service and Communications Manager Rebecca McMillan resigned after a decade with the organisation. In November 2021 Director Marten Rabarts stood down from the festival. The Auckland part of the festival was cancelled in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions. The Wellington programme screened 164 feature films. In 2023 there were 129 titles presented in 15 regions, a similar size to before

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

interrupted business. In November 2023 NZIFF released a 10-year strategy, ''Te Ahua o te Whānau Mārama'', citing the effects of the global pandemic and other aspects in New Zealand as affecting the viability of the festival. In early 2024 five key Festival Programmers all stood down from their roles with NZIFF. Senior Programmer Sandra Reid (after 30 years service); Incredibly Strange Programmer Ant Timpson (after 20 years service); Square Eyes Programmer Nicola Marshall (after 19 years service); Animation Programmer Malcolm Turner (after more than two decades service) and Asian & LGBTQ Programmer Vicci Ho (after four years service). The 2024 festival was originally planned to only include Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin (in fewer venues, and over fewer days), cutting out Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Masterton, Hawke's Bay, Whangarei, Gisborne, Nelson, Gore and Timaru. Then-festival chairperson Catherine Fitzgerald said Covid-19 impacts over 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 have impacted the festival. However, in March it was announced that the festival would be occurring as planned in Hamilton, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Masterton, and Tauranga.

Auckland

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

was the first city in the country to have a film festival. Founded in 1969 as a component of the

Auckland Festival Formerly known as Auckland Festival, Auckland Arts Festival or is an annual arts and cultural festival held in Auckland, New Zealand. The Festival features works from New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia and beyond, including world premieres of new wo ...

, the Auckland International Film Festival (AIFF) in time became a fund-raising event subsidising live arts. Rescued from this role by the intervention of the New Zealand Federation of Film Societies in 1984, the AIFF achieved an audience in excess of 100,000 for the first time in 2005. In 2019, it achieved a record audience of over 112,000. The year 2000 marked the AIFF's return to the refurbished Civic Theatre, an

atmospheric theatre An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, archit ...

built in 1929.

Wellington

The

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Film Festival (WFF) was inaugurated by Lindsay Shelton and the Wellington Film Society with seven films in 1972. Thirty years later, it showed over 150 programmes to audiences in excess of 71,000. In 2018, it exceeded 84,000 admits. The main venue is the Embassy Theatre, and the WFF and NZIFF have played a major role in the theatre's rehabilitation and continuing refurbishment.

Dunedin and Christchurch

Founded in 1977, the

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

manifestation of the Festival presented a highlights package of 75 features, plus

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s, at the Regent Theatre. Founded along with the Dunedin event in 1977, the

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Festival presented substantially the same programme.

Other regions

Often a selection of festival titles traveled around New Zealand, making the NZIFF unique on the world film-festival stage. Provincial centres covered by the festival included

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

Masterton Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

and

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

The New Zealand Film Festival Trust

The New Zealand Film Festival Trust, which runs the NZIFF, is a registered charitable entity under the

Charities Act 2005 The Charities Act is an Act of Parliament passed in New Zealand in 2005. One of the functions of the Act was setting up the Charities Commission. The Charities Act is administered by the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of I ...

, registration number CC23151. The NZ Film Festival Trust is governed by a board of trustees. The board currently consists of Catherine Fitzgerald, Chris Hormann,

Tearepa Kahi Tearepa Kahi (born 16 March 1978), also known as Te Arepa Kahi, is a New Zealand film director and former actor of Ngāti Paoa and Waikato Tainui descent. Kahi is best known for the 2013 drama '' Mt. Zion'' starring Stan Walker, and the Pātea M ...

, Robin Laing, Andrew Langridge,

Toby Manhire Toby Manhire (born 16 March; year unknown) is a New Zealand journalist and columnist, and the editor at-large of online magazine ''The Spinoff''. He is the son of poet Bill Manhire. Career Manhire was editor of student magazine '' Salient'' i ...

, and is chaired by Kaine Thompson with Sharon Menzies as deputy.

References

External links

* {{official website Film festivals in New Zealand Film festivals established in 1970 Festivals in Auckland Festivals in Christchurch Festivals in Dunedin Festivals in Wellington