Eleven hotly anticipated award-winning films announced for  Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival

Award-winning films from Cannes, Venice and Berlin film festivals will feature at Whānau Mārama:  New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF). 

NZIFF today reveals 11 hot ticket films from its programme set to thrill, inspire, and surprise  audiences when they have their New Zealand premieres at the festival. 

Titane

“The film festival has always worked to bring the very best in film to New Zealand audiences, and  this year we have an exceptional line-up with major award winners from the biggest film festivals in  the world,” says Director Marten Rabarts. 

Cannes Film Festival titles include Palme d’Or winner, Titane, which will close the festival in  a memorable way and Grand Prix award winners, A Hero, from decorated Iranian director Asghar  Farhadi and Juho Kuosmanen’s offbeat train romance, Compartment No. 6. 

Other Cannes titles include two very different 'coming-of-age' films, the intense Russian Unclenching  the Fists and the sunny Croatian Murina, starring New Zealander Cliff Curtis, for which writer director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic was awarded the Caméra d’Or for best debut feature. They  join the previously announced Jury Prize winner, Memoria. 

Hot off the heels of critically lauded debuts at Venice Film Festival comes Golden Lion winner,  Audrey Diwan’s hard-hitting drama, Happening, and Grand Jury Prize winner, Paolo Sorrentino’s  majestical memoir, The Hand of God. 

These films join the previously announced opening night film, The Power of the Dog, for which Dame Jane Campion won the Silver Lion for Best Director. 

Berlin Film Festival highlights featured in the programme include Golden Bear winning black-comic porn-revenge story, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Japanese romance anthology and Grand Jury  Prize winner, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Jury Prize winning documentary, Mr Bachmann and His  Class, and the arresting World War II drama, Natural Light, from Hungarian director Dénes Nagy who  took home the Silver Bear award for Best Director. 

Cannes Film Festival Award Winners 

Palme d’Or Winner: Titane (closing night film) 

France 2021 

Director/Screenplay: Julia Ducournou 

A body horror thriller film following a mentally disturbed serial killer who is impregnated by a car. 

Grand Prix Winner: A Hero (Ghahreman) 

Iran 2021 

Director/Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn

Rahim is in prison because of a debt he was unable to repay. During a two-day leave, he tries to  convince his creditor to withdraw his complaint against the payment of part of the sum. But things  don't go as planned. 

Grand Prix Winner: Compartment No. 6 (Hytti nro 6) 

Finland, Germany, Estonia, Russia 2021 

Director: Juho Kuosmanen 

As a train weaves its way up to the arctic circle, two strangers share a journey that will change their  perspective on life. 

Un Certain Regard Award Winner: Unclenching the Fists (Razzhimaya kulaki) Russia 2021 

Director: Kira Kovalenko 

In a former mining town in North Ossetia, a young woman struggles to escape the stifling hold of the  family she loves as much as she rejects. 

Camera D’Or Winner (Best debut feature): Murina 

Croatia 2021 

Director/Screenplay: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović 

Railing against an oppressive, overbearing father, a teenage girl embraces independence and flirts  with desire over the course of a formative weekend in this sunny, sinister Croatian drama.  

Venice International Film Festival Award Winners 

Golden Lion Winner: Happening (L’événement) 

France 2021 

Director: Audrey Diwan 

An adaptation of Annie Ernaux's eponymous novel, looking back on her experience with abortion  when it was still illegal in France in the 1960s. 

Grand Jury Prize ‘Silver Lion’ Winner: The Hand of God (È stata la mano di Dio) Italy 2021 

Director/Screenplay: Paolo Sorrentino 

The story of a boy in the tumultuous Naples of the 1980s. Sorrentino's most personal film yet is a tale  of fate and family, sports and cinema, love and loss. 

Berlin Award Winners 

Golden Bear Winner: Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc) Romania 2021 

Director/Screenplay: Radu Jude 

When teacher, Emi, finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked  on the internet, she refuses to surrender to the pressure of parents demanding her dismissal. 

Grand Jury Prize Winner: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Guzen to sozo) 

Japan 2021 

Director: Hamaguchi Ryusuke

An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a  misunderstanding, told in three movements to depict three female characters, and trace the  trajectories between their choices and regrets. 

Jury Prize Winner: Mr Bachmann and His Class (Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse) Germany 2021 

Director/Screenplay: Maria Speth 

An absorbing documentary about the inspiring story of one teacher making a difference in the lives of  migrant children in rural Germany. 

Silver Bear Winner: Natural Light (Természetes fény) 

Hungary, 2021 

Director: Dénes Nagy 

World War II occupied Soviet Union: István Semetka is a simple Hungarian farmer who serves as a  Sub-Lieutenant in a special unit scouting for partisan groups. On their way to a remote village, his  company falls under enemy fire. As the commander is killed, Semetka must overcome his fears and  take command of the unit as he is dragged into a chaos that he cannot control.