The Assassin won its Taiwanese creator, Hou Hsiao-hsien, the best director award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and has been described as having "the most extravagant, intricately detailed, extraordinarily beautiful recreation of the interiors, decor, dress and manners of imperial China that has ever likely been put on film".
The international documentary highlights include the acclaimed Asif Kapadia's Amy, which tells Amy Winehouse's story "sensitively in all its highs and lows"; Jennifer Peedom's Sherpa, which captures Everest's 2014 climbing season from Sherpa Phurba Tashi's point of view, including a killer avalanche; and The Wolfpack, which delves into the bizarrely sheltered lives of six brothers confined since birth to the tiny rooms of a Manhattan apartment.
Ms Duffy said Kiwi film-makers' offerings included The Price of Peace documentary about the Crown settlement with Tuhoe; Crossing Rachmaninoff, a portrait of Italian-born Auckland concert pianist Flavio Villani; and Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses, about the death in 2007 of a young Wainuiomata woman during the lifting of a makutu, or exorcism.
The Lobster is a surreal English-language fable set in a world where singles are forced to couple up or be turned into animals. A Cannes 2015 Jury Prize winner, it will close the festival on Wednesday, September 16.
Ms Duffy said festival programmes will be available from the cinema venue, and from libraries and cafes throughout Wairarapa.
- Full programme information is also available at nziff.co.nz. Tickets and programme from the cinema venue or via www.regent3.co.nz
