Your Guide To The NZ International Film Festival 2011

This year the Festival marks its 35th year in Christchurch, and is offering up a brain-melting 75 feature films and another 40-odd shorts over 17 days. The Festival's usual haunts have all been smooshed by the earthquake (and the resultant wrecking balls), so this year they are making themselves at home in the comfort of Hoyts Northlands.

Perhaps it's geography, perhaps it's apathy, or perhaps it's just that Cantabs have no "kulcha", but in Christchurch the film festival is criminally underattended. The moral is: if you don't want to lose it, use it. You can always get Spoof Movie 3: The Spoofening or Tits and Chainsaws 3D!! out on DVD well after the fact, but you probably won't ever get another chance to see Fritz Lang's Metropolis, or a homegrown comedy-musical-horror short about giant huhu bugs (Huhu Attack!) on the big screen – not to mention the four features this year that have been filmed in or around Christchurch. Tickets range in price from $10.50 (for films that run for less than an hour) to $18 (for 3D films), or you can get a 5 standard film pass for $57.50 - $11.50 per film is significantly better than the gouging you're going to get most other places.

The festival runs from August 11 – 28 – check out their swanky website at www.nzff.co.nz for more information about the films and the schedules, or keep an eye out for programmes around campus.

CANTA RECOMMENDS

Hobo with a Shotgun (Canada): A batshit crazy, balls-to-the-wall exploitation flick starring Rutger Hauer as the titular hobo who wants nothing more than to buy a lawnmower so as to start his own lawnmowing business. Based on the winning trailer from Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse trailer competition, this is loud, brash, and ridiculously violent. One badass show only. (Fri Aug 12, 9pm)

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (USA): Did you know Elmo is voiced by a big, tough-looking 50 year old black guy? This is the story of how shy 9 year old Kevin Clash, obsessed with puppetry, became the voice, personality and hand behind Sesame Street's best loved baby monster. (Weds Aug 16, 1:45pm; Sat Aug 20, 4:15pm)

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Brazil): Opening with a Rio de Janeiro prison riot that ends in a bloodbath, and then moving on to a web of corruption that spreads from the police force to the highest levels of the government, this is the all time biggest hit at the Brazilian box office – a nail-biting, exhilarating thriller. (Tues Aug 23, 4:00pm; Sat Aug 27, 8:30pm)

Netherwood (NZ): Part stoic Southern Man myth, part Western thriller, this gripping, atmospheric film was filmed just north of Christchurch. In the fictional town of Netherwood, an enigmatic drifter becomes caught up in a land dispute that heads towards a tense, violent showdown – in short, shit goes down. (Tues Aug 16, 8:15pm; Weds Aug 17, 3:45pm; Weds Aug 17, 8:15pm)

Norweigian Wood (Japan): An exquisitely beautiful adaptation of Haruki Murakami's bestselling novel. Set in 1960s Japan, against a backdrop of student political unrest, the film is an evocation of the "erotics of sorrow" as young Watanabe falls in love with fragile Naoko, who is still devoted to a dead boy they both loved. Watch out for the achingly beautiful score by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. (Mon Aug 15, 3:45pm & 8:30pm)

Gone with the Weird (NZ): A documentary charting the rise and dissipation of bizarro Chch alt-rockers Squirm. An affectionate tribute to this obscure band and also the innovative Chch music scene of the 1990s – think Pumpkinhead, Loves Ugly Children Ape Management and The Bats. (Sun Aug 14, 8:45pm; Tues Aug 16, 1:30pm)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (UK / USA / France): Werner Herzog, who should be on everyone's top 10 dinner guests list, takes us on a tour of the Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc; discovered by divers in 1994, this remarkable limestone cave contains a wealth of early paintings from up to 32,000 years ago. This stunning film is presented in 3D. Watch out for the 'mutant albino crocodiles' which wriggle into the gaps between fact and fiction. (Sat Aug 13, 6:15pm; Sun Aug 14, 11:15am; Mon Aug 15, 6:30pm)

Arietty (Japan): A delightful animated film based on the British children's fantasy The Borrowers. If Studio Ghibli films (Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro) don't make you feel like a little kid again, then you have no heart. (Sat Aug 13, 2:00pm; Sun Aug 14, 1:15pm)

Moving (NZ / Korea): Jung Jin-sung and Lee Kyung-mee fell in love with Christchurch while working here for a Korean company and they immigrated in 2002. Filmed in April this year, this documentary discusses their struggle and success in setting up their two CBD restaurants and in establishing themselves in Christchurch – and their losses and hardship in the wake of the February earthquake. Filmed for a Korean audience, Moving offers an intimate, heartbreaking yet pragmatic portrait of one family's psychological and spiritual struggles in the wake of physical disaster. Don't miss it. (Sat Aug 13, 11:30am; Sun Aug 14, 6:00pm; Mon Aug 15, 1:30pm)