The Convert (2024)
★★★★☆
The Convert by Maori director Lee Tamahori is set in 1834, angry as his country is colonised by the British.
New Zealand
Juniper (2021)
★★★☆☆
Screen legend Charlotte Rampling is magnificently ferocious as a reluctant invalid, estranged bad grandma Ruth in Matthew J Saville’s debut Juniper.
Camino Skies (2019) – Q&A on 13 May and ON DEMAND
★★★★☆
Cathartic documentary following six strangers walking the pilgrim way to Santiago de Compostela.
BFI LFF Review: They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
★★★★☆
They Shall Not Grow Old, Peter Jackson’s homage to his grandfather, is a technically brilliant remastering, colouring and voicing of First World War footage into 3D to show the horror and futility of war for its ordinary foot soldiers.
BFI LFF 2018 previews (2)
★★★★☆
Previews from the London Film Festival 10-21 October – Shadow, Jinn, The Breaker Upperers, May the Devil Take You and Support the Girls.
A Good Day To Die – Hoka Hey (2016)
★★★☆☆
In the fascinating documentary A Good Day To Die, Hoka Hey, Harold Monfils examines what drives award-winning photojournalist Jason Howe to risk his life in war zones.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is director Taika Waititi’s comedy adventure starring Sam Neill and Julian Dennison on the run in the New Zealand bush….
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Festival Review: Mahana / The Patriarch (2016)
★★★★☆
The moving portrait of a Maori family seething under the lash of a ruthless patriarch, Lee Tamahori’s Mahana takes heart in a young man finding his way.
Erebus: Into The Unknown (2014)
★★★☆☆
A dramatic reconstruction of New Zealand’s worst air disaster, Charlotte Purdy’s Erebus: Into The Unknown loses itself in the snows of Antarctica.
Beyond The Edge (2013)
★★★☆☆
Beautifully photographed and insightfully narrated, Beyond The Edge is a worthy chronicle of a New Zealand beekeeper’s quest to conquer the tallest mountain on earth.