Since 2009, Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) has presented the best local and international filmmaking to movie lovers all over the country. 2024’s selection highlights how queer films are leading the way in diverse genre-shattering cinema, many of which will not be screened here, outside of the NZIFF. Here is YOUR ex’s must-see queer selection:
We Were Dangerous (NZ)
You know a film has something important to say when it’s selected to open the NZIFF, and this Special Jury Prize winner (SXSW 2024) could not be released at a more poignant time. Director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s feature film debut revolves around a trio of schoolgirls who are branded ‘delinquents’ in 1950’s conservative New Zealand and are shipped off to an isolated island that houses Te Motu – School for Incorrigible Girls. There, a disciplinarian and devout matron (Rima Te Wiata) denies Māori culture and violently enforces colonial rule. Loaded with fierce wit and feminist strength, this story of steadfast bravery in the face of contempt, made all the more powerful by the recent release of Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care.

A Mistake (NZ)
A Mistake asks important questions about the ethics of the health system. Elizabeth Banks plays a queer surgeon, Liz Taylor, who is involved in a medical misadventure. When the error occurs, it ripples through the lives of everyone affected, including Taylor’s down low lover and scrub nurse (played by Snowpiercer star Mickey Sumner). Adapted from Carl Shuker’s Ockham shortlisted novel of the same name, A Mistake asks, ‘Where does responsibility start and where does it end?’ Directed by Kiwi Christine Jeffs – the film was a hit at the recent Tribeca Film Festival, where it debuted.

Naughty Little Peeptoe (NZ)
Best known for his cultish debut feature, Jack Be Nimble, Garth Maxwell here offers a deeply personal 30-minute short film, co-directed by the late Peter Wells. Naughty Little Peeptoe is an ode to friend, fashionista and foot-fetishist Doug George. Maxwell, along with collaborator Debra Daley, records caustic, chaotic narration from George, retelling the story of how high heels saved his life! This featurette was recently picked up by MoMA as part of its permanent film collection, with film curator Ron Magliozzi dubbing it a “witty testimony to the durable, liberating spirit of a queer perspective.” It screens as part of the NZIFF 2024 Aotearoa Film Focus Weekend.
Cuckoo (Germany/USA)
Tilman Singer, director of 2018’s Luz, casts Euphoria’s sublime Hunter Schafer as the lead in Cuckoo, which Mashable describes as a “deviously fun, body horror gem.” Hunter plays Gretchen, a teenager who moves out of the city to a country resort with her family for reasons she doesn’t fully comprehend. Have the creepy locals and shifting shadows put her on edge, or is Gretchen losing her mind? And why does the call of the cuckoo from the neighbouring woods sound like a scream? Social media is a buzz, calling Cuckoo the scariest film of 2024!
I Saw The TV Glow (USA)
This film will leave you asking if queer culture is now at the cutting edge of the horror genre. From transfeminine, non-binary director Jane Schoenbrun and big-name producer Emma Stone, I Saw the TV Glow follows two queer teenage outcasts who bond over their shared love for a sci-fi TV series, only for them to lose touch with reality upon the show’s cancellation. The Film Stage describes it as “one of the most original, evocative, adventurous films of this decade,” a statement backed by its award successes at Sundance and Berlinale. Vanity Fair has labelled Schoenbrun “a filmmaker for our era.”
The People’s Joker (USA)
Trans filmmaker Vera Drew presents a wacky parody of a superhero film that parodies many characters from DC’s Batman comics. This is a world where The Joker experiences gender dysphoria, The Penguin is a frustrated wannabe comedian, Batman has a twink addiction, and diving into a vat of oestrogen is all you need to do to transition… If you’re wondering how an independent filmmaker got the rights to use all these characters, well, they didn’t! Therefore, The People’s Joker is unlikely to get international distribution, meaning the NZIFF is the only place to see it! Oh, and Freddy Krueger makes a cameo!
Good One (USA)
Newcomer Lily Collias shines as Sam, a queer girl who goes on a camping trip with her father and his oldest, closest friend in New York’s picturesque Catskills Mountains. This is the feature film debut of India Donaldson (daughter of renowned director Roger Donaldson and sister of Olympian NZ cricketer Chris Donaldson), who majestically builds up the tension from relaxed family bonding to a mysterious psychological thriller.
Việt And Nam (Vietnam)
This Vietnamese-Filipino romantic drama about two gay coal miners (Hoa and Ba) dreaming of a better life was banned in Vietnam, so made its debut at Cannes. Writer/Director Trương Minh Quý captures a world of love in hiding, with lingering handholding under tables, as the closeted protagonists search for their way out as a doomed future approaches. Get your tissues ready for this one!
Crossing (Sweden)
From the acclaimed director of And Then We Danced, Lean Akin, a search for a long-lost transgender niece sees an odd couple take a road trip from Sweden to Turkey. When Lia’s terminally ill sister tells her that her dying wish is to see her daughter Tekla again, Lia embarks on a journey to the heart of Istanbul’s sex-worker scene to find her, accompanied by Achi, a well-meaning former friend of Tekla’s. This buddy road movie claimed the jury prize at the Berlin Film Festival.