NZIFF 2016: Cannes features beef up world selection

More than a dozen entries from this year’s Cannes Film Festival will be screening in the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) over the next few months.

They include new features from festival stalwarts including Spain’s Pedro Almodovar, France’s Olivier Assayas and Boyhood director Richard Linklater.

The latest list of arthouse releases comes ahead of tonight’s official programme launch for Auckland.

Each of the World Strand selections is sponsored by telecommunications company 2degrees.

NZIFF director Bill Gosden says the World Strand is the largest section in the catalogue and each of them has been lavished with praise or box office success in their countries of origin.

“Though we aim to be as international as possible, we don’t believe in token representation,” he says. “This year 19 countries are represented in this section. We’ve been really struck by the strength of the latest Italian, Spanish and French cinema in particular.”

The latest announced films are:

Julieta Pedro Almodóvar returns to his roots with another satisfying female-centric emotional drama, cutting between past and present to explore the loves and regrets of his anxious heroine.

Everybody Wants Some!! Richard Linklater follows Boyhood by recalling his own first days at college in this comedy about male bonding, set in the bars, discos, parties and frat houses of 1980 Austin in Texas.

Personal Shopper Kristen Stewart reunites with Clouds of Sils Maria director Oliver Assayas to play a young American in Paris, buying haute couture for her celebrity boss, and seeking contact with the spirit of her dead twin brother.

As I Open My Eyes Tradition butts up against progress in Leyla Bouzid’s debut, a musically charged French-Tunisian film that follows a young woman in a band as she navigates familial and cultural strictures on the eve of the Jasmine Revolution.

The Daughter The most lauded Australian drama of the last year is bold and superbly acted debut from theatre director Simon Stone, who reimagines Ibsen’s The Wild Duck in a contemporary small town.The cast is headed by Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill and Miranda Otto.

Things to Come (L’avenir) Isabelle Huppert essays a self-possessed woman confronting unexpected changes in her life and work in Mia Hansen-Løve’s heartfelt and perceptive portrait of middle age.

The Innocents This based on fact story from post-World War II Poland follows a young female French doctor who finds herself caught up in the lives of nuns, traumatised and shamed by their wartime suffering. Directed by Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel).

Captain Fantastic Viggo Mortensen steals the show as a solo father whose idealistic way of raising his six children off the grid comes under attack in this energetic, comedic drama.

Truman A low-key, character driven buddy movie laced with black humour and emotion. Argentine Ricardo Darín and Spaniard Javier Cámara.are paired in Span’s most awarded film of the year.

Perfect Strangers A gathering of old friends accepts the challenge to share all incoming calls and messages. It’s a game you won’t want to emulate at your next dinner party

Suburra This bloody, brutal crime saga boasts the epic sprawl of the mob classics it emulates, but with a lurid energy all of its own. With a throbbing score from electronic heavyweights M83.

Thithi A comedy by first-time director Raam Reddy and set India’s southern state of Karnataka. It has an easygoing naturalism, evocative setting and colourful cast of characters.

After the Storm A formerly successful novelist tries to reconnect with his ex-wife and young son in this affectionate, shrewdly observed drama of family life from Japan’s unassuming master, Kore-eda Hirokazu (Our Little Sister).

This year's NZIFF runs in Auckland from July 14 – 31; Wellington July 22- August 7; Christchurch July 28-August 14; and Dunedin August 4-21. Further regional dates can be found at nziff.co.nz.