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NZIFF ANNOUNCES FIVE INTERNATIONAL GUESTS

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The New Zealand International Film Festival has announced five further international guests to attend the Festival, along with a returning New Zealand filmmaker.

Denmark-based New Zealand director Daniel Joseph Borgman will attend the NZIFF screenings of his feature film The Weight of Elephants. The film premiered at the Berlinale in February and opened on general release in Denmark last week. The film tells the story of 11 year-old Adrian whose world is thrown into turmoil when three children in his small town disappear.

“Daniel Joseph Borgman’s evocation of a lonely boy’s misapprehensions about the world is extraordinarily vivid. His sensitive direction of the children provides exceptional insight into their world,” says NZIFF Director Bill Gosden.

NZIFF also announced that the following international filmmakers who will attend the festival:

Australian filmmakers Director Kim Mordaunt, Producer Sylvia Wilczynski and Executive Producer Bridget Ikin will be in New Zealand with their award-winning The Rocket. Mordaunt and Wilczynski will introduce Auckland and Wellington screenings.

Director Sean Baker, from the USA, will visit both Auckland and Wellington with his film Starlet about the unlikely friendship between an old and a young woman.

Maureen Gosling, co-Director of This Ain’t No Mouse Music!, will attend the Auckland and Wellington screenings of her film. The documentary tells the story of Chris Strachwitz, the guiding force behind legendary roots label Arhoolie Records.

The Festival has already announced American pro-snowboarder Kevin Pearce will attend the Auckland screenings of The Crash Reel, from director Lucy Walker. Italian prog-rock band Goblin will perform their iconic score to Dario Argento’s horror masterpiece, Suspiria, on Friday July 19 at The Civic in Auckland.

NZIFF will begin in Auckland (18 July – 4 August), open in Wellington one week later (26 July – 11 August), then Christchurch (1 – 18 August) and Dunedin (8 – 25 August) before continuing to travel around New Zealand screening in Gore, Palmerston North, Hamilton, Nelson, Tauranga, Masterton, Hawke’s Bay and New Plymouth.

NZIFF programmes will be available online and around town from June 25 in Auckland, and June 28 in Wellington. For Festival updates visit www.nziff.co.nz and register to receive e-newsletters.

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