New Zealand International Film Festival 2026

Renowned writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's majestic new historical thriller fuses samurai spectacle with whodunnit intrigue, as a samurai lord is drawn into a series of shadowy murders within his own castle walls in feudal Japan.

Resounding well-received at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight 2026, Kōhei Kadowaki's ravishing anime follows two boys whose inseparable childhood friendship is shattered by a single careless moment - one that changes the course of their lives.

The winner of the five 2026 Goya Awards including Best Film, writer/director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa's quietly spellbinding drama captures the rupture within a family after a young woman defies expectations with her chosen vocation.

The powerful new drama from master director Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan, Elena, Loveless) follows the emotional and moral collapse of a Russian businessman under the strain of personal and political upheaval.

Widely heralded as the major discovery of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Marine Atlan’s stunning debut feature follows a class of French high school students on a life-changing excursion to Pompeii.

The multi-talented Félix de Givry makes his hugely accomplished directorial debut with this tender and moving romantic fable following the unlikely love story between two lonely teenagers.

Inspired by notorious real-life events, the seductive new noir from Marcelo Martinessi (The Heiresses) unravels the mysterious death of a charismatic radio host in late-1950s Paraguay — an event seized on by the regime to deepen repression.

Winner of the Audience Award at the 2026 Berlinale, Faraz Shariat’s electrifying, politically charged thriller follows a young state prosecutor drawn into the fight against increasingly visible far-right extremism in eastern Germany.