NZIFF Has Made a Foray into Cannes

NZIFF will screen seventeen films from the prestigious festival - including the winners of the Best Director, Jury Prize and Best Actor categories.
Laetitia Laubscher
June 23, 2015

Behind the scenes of every distribution deal, every film festival screening, and basically every film you've ever laid eyes on in a theatre, there's shit fight. While you languorously topple warm popcorn into your mouth and enjoy the spoils of this struggle, heroes like the NZIFF's Sandra Reid make sure that you're are getting the best possible cinematic experience.

This year, she's hauled back from Cannes a total of 17 films - including The Assassin (which was awarded Best Director), The Lobster (the Jury Prize winner), and The Measure of Man (which collected the award for Best Actor).

Other films also nabbed in Reid's raid include, from the Cannes Competition: those films mentioned before, Mia madre, Our Little Sister and Tale of Tales; from the Un Certain Regard (a supplementary section) - Rams, Lamb and Cemetery of Splendour; and finally from the Directors' Fortnight: Arabian Nights, The Brand New Testament, Embrace of the Serpent, Mustang, My Golden Days and Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld.

 

“It’s a scramble every year to tie down the films we want from Cannes when we can’t see them until a fortnight before our deadline, but somehow we’ve done it again. Our programmer Sandra Reid went into Cannes knowing a handful of titles would be held back for the US Awards seasons, but otherwise it was a matter of zeroing in on everything else that looked exciting. Which was hardly cutting it down. We’ve emerged with a fantastic variety, from outrageous comedy, to meditative Thai art cinema to a charming French memoir of youthful love and adventure,” says NZIFF Director Bill Gosden.

Stay tuned for our full breakdown of the NZIFF programme which kicks off in Auckland on July 16 and in Wellington on July 24.

Published on June 23, 2015 by Laetitia Laubscher
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