New Zealand International Film Festival

Cinema is a miracle. It is a healing force that overcomes traumas, bringing comfort and hope. Looking back at the more than 100 films that shape the line up of Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival 2025, I vividly feel a positive flow seeping through the major works that we are bringing to our audiences. There is drama in life and in cinema this year, but there is also plenty of laughter and love – as filmmakers use irony and empathy to resolve the conflicts they stage. Both in Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner and NZIFF opener It Was Just An Accident and in the Turkish debut One of Those Days When Hemme Dies paths of revenge become awakenings of compassion. In Young Mothers, the Dardenne brothers address the plight of teenage pregnancy, while Carla Simon looks back at the HIV epidemic in Romería: in both films, the filmmakers empower their young protagonists with the anticipation of a brighter future. The vital relation between cinema and its audience ignites Bi Gan’s imaginative and sprawling Resurrection, while its healing force is at the core of our closing film Sentimental Value. The moving exchange of gazes at the end of Joachim Trier’s family drama will be the last sequence in the cinematic journey that we invite our audiences to share. It will offer the perfect illustration of the miraculous light that cinema still brings into our lives.

Bigger. Bolder. Accessible. Those were the promises we made. You said you want more films, you got it! You said you want us to be bolder about the films we exhibit, this year our Artistic Director and his team went after the best films in world cinema. You said you want better access, so we increased the number of venues and exhibition times while keeping the prices down. Thank you to the many Film Society members from around New Zealand who joined the programming team in our new Audience Panels. Thank you to our long-standing strategic partners and welcome to our new partners joining this year. And, thank YOU for trusting us to build the Festival you want. You inspired us to build the 2025 Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival. We hope we made you proud.

Tūngia te ururua kia tupu whakaritorito te tupu o te harakeke.