NZ Film Festival drops first announcement

Scene from Under the Silver Lake

Film fans can begin to get excited as the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) has revealed the first five films of the 2019 programme.

The popular movie festival begins in Auckland from 18 July before travelling the country and playing Wellington from 26 July, Dunedin from 1 August and Christchurch from 8 August.

"We're excited to finally announce our first titles for 2019," said NZIFF Programme Manager Michael McDonnell.

This first reveal is typical eclectic and features a thriller, a love mystery and a local documentary on winemaking.

Two films in the reveal premiered at Cannes last year but had yet to screen here. They are A Long Day's Journey into Night, which is described as a "noir love mystery" and is notable for an hour long 3D sequence, and Under the Silver Lake which is a thriller about a deadbeat slacker.

Meanwhile High Life and Monos both recently premiered at Toronto and Sundance festival respectively. The former is a sci-fi film about death row inmates imprisoned on a spaceship while the latter is described as 'Lord of the Flies" in the jungle.

Rounding off the line up is the world premiere of David Nash's NZ wine documentary A Seat at the Table.

Further films will be announced in the coming weeks.