Hi!

From 29th July, 10.00 am to 4th August, 11.00 pm, "Dinner In America" will be available for online rental on NZIFF website. Once purchased, it'll be available to watch for 48 hours. To purchase it when rental begins, or add it to wishlist, visit: https://www.nziff.co.nz/2020/at-home-online/dinner-in-america/

https://youtu.be/Z-gxWAs44w4

What an amazing event.

I start small - just one film (1)"The Kindergarten Teacher". Perhaps it was the fact the movie started on time, without soul sucking previews, or that the Lighthouse Theater is such an amazing experience. After this first movie, with the wonderful Maggie Gyllenhaal, the seeds of addiction are placed.

I had to do it again.

This time (2)"Blue my Mind". Whoa. Wasn't expecting that from modern cinema. A buildingsroman body horror! How great are the Embassy Deluxe theaters?! So cozy. So intimate. Two films of quality I simply forgot existed.

Could all the films be this way? Would I enjoy every movie this festival had to offer? Only one way to find out.

Sunday comes, and I wake up and have no plans. There was this nagging intrigue in the back of my head: maybe the film festival has more great movies.

I hop on the site, and plan out a 6-movie day. I started off with (3)"Chulas Fronteras", a documentary about Tex-Mex music. Being from Texas, I cried every time I saw a can of Lone Star beer. Great film. First round of applause for a film I heard.

Second film. (4)"Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda" - a documentary about the world famous electronic musician / actor / composer / activist / generally amazing fella. It starts with him walking deep into the radiation zone of Fukishima to play a piano that survived the tsunami. Haunting. This film really tuned me into the audio aspect of how films are made - both from a music standpoint and an effects standpoint. It really enhanced my understanding all future films.

Third film: (5)"Apostasy". Sobering. Angering. O'Brien from Downton Abby doing what Obrien does best - pissing me off. I start drinking after this one. This movie remains one of the hardest to process.

Then comes the second half of the day. The surrealist, weird, unsettling range of films. The "Incredibly Strange" section of the film festival has some real treats for me.The films I enjoy the most.

(6)"Thelma", another movie about girls going bad, and also gaining supernatural powers. Great film. Engaging

France v New Zealand | End of Year Internationals 2021

Venue: Stade de France, Paris | Weather: 7 C, Mist

Officials: Wayne Barnes, Luke Pearce, Karl Dickson, Stuart Terheege (tmo)

Match Threads: /r/rugbyunion/wiki/matchthread

When

Lineups

Ireland v New Zealand | End of Year Internationals 2021

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin | Weather: 12 C, Clouds

Officials: Luke Pearce, Matthew Carley, Christophe Ridley, Tom Foley (tmo)

Match Threads: /r/rugbyunion/wiki/matchthread

When

Lineups

Fantastic news for film lovers out their as the town of Queenstown announces to the world that with the governments help it will create the greatest festival of film known to man!

Perhaps it is a lofty goal. However the week long extravaganza will have special events and parades for each genre of film, a awards ceremony with grand prize for best film being $4 million and the opening of wildcard actor, director and billion dollar treasure hunter Upton Bertly's new film studio "trash landing productions" once the kiwi heartbraker returns from his latest shipwreck hunt.

All nations are advised to join to promote their film industry abilities in what was been announced to be the most star studded event of the year!

[M] keeping with the Bob Bucket story-line, the festival will start Monday

If you have any recommendations for the comedy festival - drop them below!

I'll kick it off with Blake Freeman! I saw his show last week and his energy on the stage is incredible and of course it was hilarious.

United States v New Zealand | End of Year Internationals 2021

Venue: FedexField, Washington, D.C. | Weather: 16 C, Clouds

Officials: Angus Gardner, Moe Chaudhry, Scott Green, Brett Cronan (tmo)

Match Threads: /r/rugbyunion/wiki/matchthread

When

Lineups