The World Cinema Showcase turns 10!
Wellington, Paramount: March 20 – April 2
Auckland, Academy Cinemas: March 27 – April 16
Christchurch, Rialto Cinemas: April 17 – 30
Dunedin, Regent Theatre: April 24 – May 7
Over the past ten years the World Cinema Showcase has become firmly established in four New Zealand cities as the little
Film Festival that marks the summer’s end. Its value as the perfect launching pad for independent films is
well-recognised by filmmakers, agents and distributors. This enables the organisers – also the organisers of the
mid-winter NZ International Film Festivals - to select an exciting and diverse programme from a wide pool of work that
might otherwise get lost in the bewildering array of film going choices.
Despite the proliferation of multifarious film festivals over those ten years the singularity of the Showcase remains
strong. It may in fact be stronger than ever: a carefully curated programme like ours is more helpful than ever to
filmgoers and filmmakers alike. Quality and originality are the main criteria for us - quality in many forms and genres
- and we're not tied to any other agenda. The 2008 Showcase is simply the best yet, featuring an extraordinary number of
the films that made the international critics’ ‘best of’ lists in 2007.
Highlights include:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – based on the best selling novel and winner of two Golden Globes for Best
Foreign Language Film and Best Director.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days - The year’s best film in the eyes of the Cannes jury and countless end-of-year
critics’ surveys , 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is further stunning proof of the fertility of a new generation of
filmmakers in Romania.
Across the Universe – set in 1960’s England in the days of flower power, psychodelia, the Vietnam War and
anti-war protests, this musical epic tells the story of Jude’s star-crossed love affair with Lucy almost entirely
through the lyrics of the Beatles’ most popular songs.
Forbidden Lie$ - the jaw-droppingly weird story of Norma Khouri - the critically acclaimed author of the best
selling book Forbidden Love - who was outed as a fraud by an Australian journalist.
In the Shadow of the Moon - A riveting examination of the American Lunar programme which includes fresh and
often funny interviews with the likes of Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins and Alan Bean as well as astounding archival footage.
Your chance to see El Topo and The Holy Mountain, by infamous Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky, in all
their glorious madness.
ends