Film Festival 2020 lineup

Emily Skeggs & Kyle Gallner in Dinner in America

Well it's definitely going to be an odd Film Festival this year, and we should be grateful we have any titles in cinema at all, unlike much of the rest of the cinema-going world. Instead of my traditional 20 films, mostly seen in the wonderful 450-seat Embassy Grand, I've booked a mere five films from the small selection on offer at the Roxy Cinema in Miramar.

This is the first year following the retirement of the great Bill Gosden as NZIFF director, and no doubt new director Marten Rabarts wants to stamp his own mark on the festival, and in the circumstances of a global pandemic that has interrupted the supply of quality and popular films alike, that was always going to be challenge. It's great to see that the initial announcement of an online-only NZIFF20 has been superseded by a hybrid format with some cinema screenings, but it's anyone's guess how successful the online aspect of the programme will be. 

For one thing, the quality and range of films available to the programmers must have been severely limited by the disruption to studio and indie production chains. In addition, it's unclear how the festival-loving public will respond to being asked to pay full ticket price for an online viewing experience. The whole point of a cinema experience is savouring the impact of a splendid screen and the best sound equipment theatres have to offer. Watching at home, no matter how high-quality the screens involved, is an implicitly inferior cinematic experience.

There's also the challenge that may arise from the early inklings of Rabarts' programming preferences. While it may be a factor of the limited palette of titles available this year, it's apparent that he wishes to promote niche cinema to a greater extent than Gosden. The festival circuit is by its very nature a broad church, but over the years Gosden developed a finely-pitched balance of populist, obscure and strange programming that helped NZIFF to thrive and grow for decades. He knew the New Zealand cinema-going market back to front. While 2020 may well be an outlier, Rabarts, who until recently hadn't lived in New Zealand for decades, will need to programme to the tastes of this admittedly culturally isolated market, rather than those of other countries. Perhaps I'm wrong though, and there's a great pent-up demand for niche genre films out there.

Here's the films I'm catching in NZIFF20, plus five more titles I'm likely to try to catch online:

In the cinema

The Truth (La Vérité) (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, France/Japan, 2019)

One of my favourite directors continues his masterful examination of the complex dynamics of the family environment, stretching himself with his first non-Japanese-based production. Set in France, The Truth features a splendid cast (Deneuve, Binoche, Hawke) and will undoubtedly be a festival highlight.

True History of the Kelly Gang (dir. Justin Kurzel, Australia, 2019)

From the Peter Carey novel of the same name, this revisionist history of the famed Australian bushranger features not one but two New Zealand connections, with Thomasin McKenzie and singer Marlon Williams both featuring.

The Last Wave (dir. Peter Weir, Australia, 1977)

A second Australian outing, this time from Weir's 1970s creative peak (although I'll always admire the hell out of 2003's Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World), this nightmarish vision of gothic Outback mysticism sounds intriguing and just a little bit bonkers. 

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson & The Band (dir. Daniel Roher, Canada, 2019)

While I haven't seen the Levon Helm-centred Ain't In it For My Health, this documentary will be a wonderful counterpart to the astonishing musical experience of Scorsese's The Last Waltz (1978), giving the marvelously talented Robbie Robertson his perspective on this fractious, beautiful legacy of the groundbreaking and hugely influential (mostly) Canadian legends, The Band. 

The County (Héraðið) (dir. Grímur Hákonarson, Iceland, 2019) 

You can never have too much Icelandic cinema, and this woman-against-the-world tale from the icy countryside sounds like the perfect counterpart to the director's brotherly feuding saga, Rams (2015).     

Online

The Kingmaker (dir. Lauren Greenfield, US/Denmark, 2019)

Illustrating the irredeemable arrogance and unquestioning egocentrism of the now-80-something Imelda Marcos as she discusses her joint reign as the Philippines' First Lady for 21 years, unrepentant and still determined to control 'her' nation through advancing the political career of her son Bongbong.

The Unknown Saint (dir. Alaa Eddine Aljem, France/Morocco, 2019)

In what sounds like a perfect set-up, a Moroccan petty criminal returns after a jail sentence to dig up a stash of wealth, only to discover a massive shrine erected atop his hastily-dug treasure trove.

A Year Full of Drama (Aasta täis draamat) (dir. Marta Pulk, Estonia, 2019)

A documentary crew follows a young Estonian competition-winner as she takes up the challenge of a year of theatre-reviewing, having never before seen a play.

Kubrick by Kubrick (dir. Gregory Monro, France, 2020)

Taking advantage of unprecedented access to tapes of the director in conversation with French writer Michel Ciment to fill in the many gaps in our understanding of the much-analysed genius director. A fine addition to my Kubrick completism, having loved Filmworker and amazing Kubrick exhibitions in New York and London. 

Dinner in America (dir. Adam Rehmeier, US, 2020)

A crowd-pleasing 1990s-set suburban outsider girl-meets-boy epic with supporting cast work from Lea Thompson and Mary Lynn Rajskub sounds right up my alley.