International film festival director's picks to watch out for

Simon Morris talks to the new director of Whānau Mārama, the New Zealand International Film Festival. Paolo Bertolin plucks some highlights from this year's programme, including Cannes sensation The Seed of the Sacred Fig, tributes to musician Paul Simon and one-time Superman, the late actor Christopher Reeves, and New Zealand classics, new and old - Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara and Heavenly Creatures.There's an enticing array of international fare to watch out for at the New Zealand International Film Festival, says artistic director Paolo Bertolin.The festival kicks off at the end of this month, with 105 local and international films on offer.Bertolin joined the festival as artistic director earlier this year and has worked on many other festivals, including Cannes Critics' Week and the Venice International Film Festival.This year two big ticket films open the festival, both New Zealand films representative of a "surge in vitality in local cinema", he told Simon Morris."On the one hand, we have We Were Dangerous. The film is directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu. And it was awarded in South by Southwest and we're very proud to show the film in its domestic premiere."It's a story of female empowerment set in the 1950s, he said."It's an entertaining film and it's an empowering one. I think that by the end of the film, audiences will be really happy and excited. It's a film that really entertaining and pleasing and I feel the ending is very, very inspiring."Watch the movie trailer here.Christchurch gets its own premiere with Jonathan Ogilvie's Head South, he said."It's a film I have a kind of an interest in because I was in Christchurch at that time working on a rock show. And so that early 80s post punk thing is quite close to my heart."Head South is another wonderful example of this renaissance of local films. This is a film set at the end of the '70s, early '80s. And it's tracking the real story of a boy who is growing up in Christchurch at that time and feeling that rock music can be something that can change his life," Bertolin said.Watch the movie trailer here.There's a strong collection of New Zealand films in the festival, particularly some notable documentaries, he said. They include Alien Weaponry: Kua Tupu Te Ara, The House Within documentary film on New Zealand writer Fiona Kidman, Taki Rua Theatre - Breaking Barriers, and Never Look Away a documentary on photojournalist Margaret Moth…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details