Thursday, July 3, 2008

Auckland International Film Festival

Friday 11th July 2008 will see the start of the Auckland International Film Festival, started in Wellington in 1972 screening 7 films to provide some variety to Wellingtonians it now takes place annually across New Zealand towns and screens hundreeds of films for hundreds of thousands of New Zealand moviegoers.

The programme this year is enough to make anyone vaguely interested in film step out into the wet windy streets for a trip to the cinema. For anyone seriously interested in film (like me) its enough to cancel work and any other responsibilities/ activites for a fortnight in order to take in as many of the films as possible.

In an attempt to justify this indulgent behaviour (and because I've been too lazy to find a commission) I'll be using this blog to share with you my highlights of the festival, including reviews and commentry from the stalls (not literally). I'll be watching 10 films (at the very reasonable price of $100) and, Gonzo style, will do nothing else but live and sleep film. Other than 2.5 hrs cleaning the hostel each day for my bed and board. Times are hard.

This year's programme boasts nearly 200 films from around the world, including winners from the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. My early pick is 'Mongol' - about (who else?) Genghis Khan and his rampage across a third of the globe with his brutal, savage horde. I'm looking forward to the vastness of the landscape and to see if Director and co-writer Sergi Bedrov manages, or indeed tries, to portray Khan as a human being.

More later. For now if you want to see the programme of films see the official website.

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