“Never mind the frigid climate and inane rugby obsession that comes with the following months: this July and August, winter plays host again to the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals, a savior from the cold in its annual torrent of world and experimental cinema, documentaries, animation and retrospective offerings. The much-anticipated programme hits streets officially this week, although scouts will have already discovered the majority of titles announced online. Privy to the confirmed lineup, it’s with equal parts excitement and curiosity that we can reveal some of its potential highlights.”...[Read More]

And so begins The Lumière Reader’s festival coverage, continuing uninhabited through until the end of August. TIM WONG offers his Opening Thoughts on the colossal programme – launched tonight in Auckland, and Wellington on Thursday – spying several early event movies, including David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a rather outrageous subtitute for the now-defunct Grindhouse double-bill in Death Note + Death Note: The Last Name back-to-back, and the festival’s annual retrospective element, this year a tantalizing revival of American seventies cinema; Electra Glide in Blue, The Hired Hand, and The Last Picture Show his essentials from the ten film programme.

The festival begins in Auckland (July 13-29), followed by Wellington (July 20-August 5), Dunedin (July 27-August 12), Christchurch (August 2-19), and remainder of the country thereafter. Full details online at nzff.telecom.co.nz.