Silent film first offering for festival

A still from Blancanieves, a Spanish reworking of the classic fairy tale, Snow White. Photo / Supplied

Film buffs can now look forward to almost a year's worth of great films at the Carterton Events Centre.

The success of last year's Sunset Cinema film festival has prompted organisers to put together a programme of 11 films to be screened throughout 2016, with the first screening on February 7.

One movie will be screened each month, with audiences able to purchase a yearly Film Society membership for $70 to see all 11 films, or a three month trial membership for $25. Casual admissions will be $10 waged/$8 unwaged.

Organiser Kathy Bartlett said strong positive feedback received last year gave her and other organisers the impetus to bring more movies to the Events Centre.

Many people had requested films be shown during the winter, so they had made the decision to spread the films out across the year, and shift the screenings to Sunday nights, she said.

They had aimed for a wide variety of prize-winning films, with movies from as far afield as Saudia Arabia making the final selection. Highlights included opening movie Blancanieves, a Spanish silent film retelling the story of Snow White, Ms Bartlett said.

Another must-see was Ever the Land, a Kiwi film about the planning and construction of New Zealand's first "living building", the Tuhoe headquarters in Taneatuahe. Other movies showing are Fish Tank, Anything For Her, Stations of the Cross, The Spirit of '45, Every Blessed Day, Timbuktu and The Palm Beach Story.