The New Zealand International Film Festival is the country's most significant film event and one of the Southern Hemisphere's premier cinema gatherings, touring annually to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and a network of regional centres each July and August. For film lovers across Aotearoa, it is the essential annual opportunity to see the finest international cinema — art house, documentary, world cinema and New Zealand film — that would otherwise never reach local screens.

Since its founding in 1969, the festival has introduced New Zealand audiences to some of the most important films of their generation, premiering work from the world's leading directors alongside the best of New Zealand filmmaking. The programme is curated with genuine passion and expertise, and the festival's presence in multiple cities ensures that access to great cinema is not limited to Auckland and Wellington alone.

For film lovers, the NZIFF is non-negotiable — the two weeks each year when the cinema culture of the world comes to New Zealand in concentrated form. The queues, the conversations, the discoveries and the occasional masterpiece that stays with you for years are all part of what makes it one of the country's most beloved annual cultural events.