July has come and gone but Auckland has lots of options to keep residents busy during these Winter months. One of them was the New Zealand International Film Festival. Spending a few weeks in each major town across the country, I saw four films over the 3 week in the City of Sails.
Maiden: This movie showed old footage and recent interviews from the first all women sailboat crew for the Whitbread Round the World Race (now the Ocean Race). This is a grueling four-month journey of 32,018 nautical miles, and the women only team faced lots of setbacks. From trying to get sponsored to dealing with sexist journalists, these ladies ended up winning 2 legs of the race! One leg of the race stops in Auckland, and it was cool to see the footage of the city back in the 1980’s. The theatre also laughed when the British sailors made some comments about Australia. These women took a big risk and opened doors for many other female sailors, yet the movie showed there is still more to be done for equality on the high seas.
This Changes Everything: Another feminist movie, this focused on sexism in Hollywood. Closely related to another one of my favorite movies, Miss Representation, this film follows Geena Davis and her funded cause ‘Institute on Gender in Media.’ There are some staggering statistics including how the US Government has failed to act on regulating the film industry as an Equal Opportunity Employer. Although things have changed in recent years, again this movie showed how far women and other minorities need to go to equal out the playing field.
Hail Satan?: Part satire documentary, part comedy, this was one of my favorites. This film follows the creation of the Satanic Temple and their cause of demanding true democracy. It follows different leaders and communities as they fight for the rights of every citizen in America, even if their approach seems a tad left-field. This movie really made me think about what is right and how religion has crept it’s way into America’s government. Counter cultures are not always ‘evil’ and everyone should keep an open mind when it comes to learning about other’s views.
Brittany Runs A Marathon: The only real movie I saw during this Festival, Brittany Runs A Marathon is a story about a woman in her late twenties who is unhealthy and decides to run the New York Marathon to get in shape. Deeper than I expected, this comedy had pretty serious issues relating to family, love and social expectations of women. This very relatable film had me in tears at the end as I connected with it and questioned my own path in life.
I scoped out all the movies from the free guide (pictured above) and highlighted the best ones in my opinion. There were quite a few others I wanted to see, but due to playing times and location I was unable to see them. This Changes Everything and Hail Satan were screened at the downtown Academy Cinema while Maiden was at Westgate and Brittany Runs a Marathon was at the old Hollywood Cinemas in Avondale.
TIP: If you’re like me and enjoy saving your ticket stubs for scrapbooking, get a ticket organizer. It saves time and prevents a hoarding of paper around the house.
Have you attended a film festival?