Already have decision fatigue for Wh\u0101nau M\u0101rama 2026? Thomas Giblin selects 10 easy wins.<\/p>\n
The hotly anticipated 2026 Wh\u0101nau M\u0101rama New Zealand International Film Festival<\/a> is just around the corner. Featuring over 100 feature films, from international auteurs to Aotearoa\u2019s latest and greatest, there\u2019s something for everyone at this year\u2019s festival (July 29 \u2013 September 9). But with so many intriguing titles on offer, what films are worth spending your hard-earned money on? From lauded directorial debuts to Cannes heavyweights and heady horrors, here are my 10 must-see films (in alphabetical order).<\/p>\n Big Girls Don\u2019t Cry<\/p>\n After breaking out at the Sundance Film Festival, T\u0101maki Makaurau filmmaker Paloma Schneideman\u2019s debut feature Big Girls Don\u2019t Cry is having its eagerly awaited Aotearoa premiere as the opening night film of NZIFF. Set in the summer of 2006 in a rural town near \u014cmaha, the tender film centres on Sid (Ani Palmer), an awkward adolescent attempting to navigate her burgeoning sexuality. Reminiscent of Christine Jeffs\u2019s Rain, this \u201cwry and intimate queer coming-of-age tale<\/a> filled with as much desire as it has rebellion\u201d is destined to become a Kiwi classic.<\/p>\n Read more: \u2018Really mind-blowing\u2019: The New Zealand coming-of-age film winning big overseas<\/a><\/p>\n The Black Ball<\/p>\n Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi \u2013 the Spanish filmmaking duo known collectively as Los Javis \u2013 The Black Ball sparked a 16-minute standing ovation at Cannes, and a multi-studio bidding war. Inspired by an unfinished work of the same name by influential Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca, the \u201cmagnificently moving triptych that feels at once novel and like a classically staged military epic\u201d<\/a> is set in 1932, 1937 and 2017, and follows the interlinked lives of three gay men. Unfurling over a sprawling two-and-a-half hours, this \u201cera-spanning monument to gay storytellers is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n Dead Man\u2019s Wire<\/p>\n Inspired by a wild true story,<\/a> Gus Van Sant\u2019s timely comeback film Dead Man\u2019s Wire is a \u201cthoughtful, bleakly funny 1970s drama that speaks to the current moment, and is equal to the many classics that inspired it<\/a>\u201c. Featuring Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd as disgruntled real-estate developer turned kidnapper Tony Kiritsis, who takes a man hostage believing the mortgage company the man works for is attempting to defraud and bankrupt him. What follows is a Dog Day Afternoon-like standoff that is sure to shred your nerves.<\/p>\n Fatherland<\/p>\n With a filmography that includes the gorgeous Oscar-winning Ida and the Oscar-nominated heartbreaker Cold War, any new Pawe\u0142 Pawlikowski film is worth getting excited about. In Fatherland, an \u201cimpossibly elegant, poised historical vignette<\/a>\u201c, German acting icon Hanns Zischler is Nobel laureate Thomas Mann, and Anatomy of a Fall\u2019s Sandra H\u00fcller is his daughter Erika. In the aftermath of World War II, the pair embark on a road trip across the ruins of Germany. Clocking-in at a sprightly 83 minutes, the monochromatic Fatherland is \u201canother expansive, enriching work from a modern master<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n Fjord<\/p>\n Based on real events, the Romanian Mihai (Sebastian Stan) and the Norwegian Lisbet (Renate Reinsve) are the heads of the devoutly Christian Gheorghiu family. They\u2019ve relocated their family from Romania to a remote village in Norway to be closer to Lisbet\u2019s family, but their move doesn\u2019t go as planned as they struggle to assimilate and become the subject of a publicised judicial investigation into child abuse. \u201cSharply attuned to the world\u2019s ever-expanding possibilities for movement, misunderstanding and conflict<\/a>\u201c, the Palme d\u2019Or-winning Fjord has stirred controversy, dividing critics and audiences alike. It\u2019s now time for Aotearoa to have its say.<\/p>\n La Gradiva<\/p>\n Helmed by Marine Atlan in her debut feature, and premiering in the Critics\u2019 Week section of Cannes where it won the Grand Prize, the French coming-of-age drama La Gradiva \u201cannounces the arrival of a formidable new talent<\/a>\u201c. Set at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, this trembling depiction of teenage angst follows a group of French high-school students (all played by newcomers) and their long-suffering teacher (Antonia Buresi) who travel to Naples to roam the ruins of Pompeii. In the same vein as The 400 Blows, Peppermint Soda and To Our Loves, La Gradiva \u201cis so wholly transporting that its running time flies by unnoticed, and as it barrels toward its melancholic end, you\u2019re left breathless in your seat<\/a>\u201c. High praise indeed.<\/p>\n Rose of Nevada<\/p>\n No working filmmaker\u2019s process is \u201cmore inseparable from his images<\/a>\u201c than Mark Jenkin\u2019s. The singular Bafta-winning writer, director and composer has shot all three of his features in Cornwall on 16mm using a clockwork Bolex, and Rose of Nevada continues that trend despite the Hollywood stars. The maritime mystery features George MacKay as Nick, and Callum Turner as Liam, two men who join the crew of the Rose of Nevada, a fishing vessel that has bafflingly come back to shore after three decades at sea. When they return from their fateful first voyage, the men realise that they have been transported back in time. Otherworldly, but \u201crooted in the bleak political realities of 2020s Britain<\/a>\u201c. Rose of Nevada is truly one-of-a-kind.<\/p>\n The Tale of Silyan<\/p>\n Tamara Kotevska\u2019s The Tale of Silyan, a \u201ccockle-warming mud-caked folk tale<\/a>\u201c, is a welcome escape from the doom and gloom of the world\u2019s current affairs. Shot in \u010ce\u0161inovo, North Macedonia, the docu-fable charts the friendship between Nikola, a struggling farmer, and Silyan, an injured white stork that the stoic agrarian takes under his wing. Their bond is a reprieve for Nikola, whose time-honoured way of life has been upended by migration, environmental change and government policy. A \u201csuccinct, entrancing, and life-affirming documentary<\/a>\u201c. The Tale of Silyan is bound to charm the whole wh\u0101nau.<\/p>\n Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma<\/p>\n Rounding out what I Saw the TV Glow director Jane Schoenbrun calls her \u201cScreen Trilogy\u201d, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, which won the Queer Palm at Cannes, features Hacks star Hannah Einbender as the Schoenbrun-like Kris, a queer director. Hired to reboot the flailing Camp Miasma slasher franchise, Kris seeks out Billy Preston (Gillian Anderson), the original film\u2019s elusive final girl. When the two meet, fantasy and reality collapse, setting off an \u201cerotic explosion in this cerebral, pop-colored tale<\/a>\u201c that gleefully deconstructs horror and Hollywood. Tailor-made for a late-night screening, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is one to watch with a whole heap of friends.<\/p>\n The Ungrateful Tenant<\/p>\n After four and a half years in production, the topical silent horror comedy The Ungrateful Tenant is finally emerging from the darkest depths: the T\u0101maki Makaurau rental market. Brought to life by \u014ctautahi filmmaker Conor Bowden, who serves as the film\u2019s writer, director, editor and star, The Ungrateful Tenant depicts an exasperated millennial renter (Bowden) who, after kicking out a problematic flattie, is struck down by karma and sent on a nightmarish odyssey through the City of Sails and its housing crisis. Drawing inspiration from the works of F. W. Murnau and Charlie Chaplin, this distinctly Kiwi micro-budget passion project is sure to spook and amuse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Already have decision fatigue for Wh\u0101nau M\u0101rama 2026? Thomas Giblin selects 10 easy wins. 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