Films to watch out for at the 2019 New Zealand International Film Festival

Films to watch out for at the 2019 New Zealand International Film Festival

Every year, the phrase "cinematic smorgasbord" is bandied about, but every year, the choice is close to immaculate.

The 51st annual festival is no exception, bringing as much delight to cinephiles as it does distress by providing yet another scheduling frenzy.

Don't look to the experts to guide you on what's best to see - sometimes, it's a case of throwing a pin in the air, and seeing where in the programme schedule it lands.

These are the best moments of the festival - the unexpected joy of an unplanned screening.

But if you have to take some solace in what others think, these pointers may help.

2040 is the most optimistic film of the festival.

That Sugar Film's Damon Gameau (who'll be in NZ for the festival) decides to turn the spotlight on the planet and its future in a 90 minute piece of positive propaganda that zips by.

Centring around what he believes would work best for his daughter Velvet for the state of the planet, Gameau explores "fact-based dreaming" to see schemes from around the world that could help.

From grid-sharing in Bangladesh to autonomous cars, Gameau may inspire others, but he'll definitely frustrate some who are after some of the more political reasons why these can't be put in place, and why dreaming can only get us so far.

But the guarantee is that you'll leave the cinema galvanised and positive, rather than than terrified at what destruction your coffee cup will wreak.

Terrifying satirist Chris Morris is back with The Day Shall Come, a film that will be seen regardless by fans of his.

Four Lions a few festivals back brought raucous laughter with its clueless bunch of English jihadi, but in among the inept, real pathos lay, delivering a movie that worked on many levels.

Early word is that the absurd is present again in The Day Shall Come, and that the war on terror will never look the same.

Big events are what the NZIFF is known for - and you can't go bigger than Apollo 11 on the mighty Civic screen.

50 years on from the lunar landing, it's fortuitous the festival falls at the same time. However, conspiracy theorists would probably beg to differ....

Equally, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now Final Cut should be thunderous too, with the three hour vision of the Vietnam film likely to thrill as much as tantalise.

Low key is also good for the festival - and Hail Satan?'s mix of high level trolling and examination of America's schisms over intolerance for other ideas gives the doco a kind of quirky feel that's hard to shake.

But it does expose the intolerances which have festered greatly within the US, as well as showing an organisation perceived as devilish, but which still has enough community nous to volunteer to clean a stretch of beach for a year. It exposes the paradigms, and does so playfully.

Hale County This Morning, This Evening looks promising too.

A short doco about African Americans in Alabama, the examination of community promises much, and given there was 1300 hours of footage to cull down, 76 minutes seems rich enough pasture to dwell in.

These are just a handful of what's out there - others like In Fabric, High Life, Come To Daddy all command your attention as well.

The New Zealand International Film Festival kicks off in Auckland on July 17. For more, go to nziff.co.nz