In Review

The Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) is beginning its journey across the country this month, kicking off in Wellington on 31 July before continuing through 9 other centres until 4 September. After the capital, the festival will be moving on to Auckland, Dunedin, Nelson, Christchurch, Tauranga, Napier, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Masterton. 

This year’s programme includes 12 feature-length films from New Zealand directors, 4 short-film collections and a special 30th anniversary screening of Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures.  

Films are coming to our shores from 20 different countries, including Bhutan, Iran, Somalia, Nepal and Vietnam as well as China, Japan, the UK, Ireland, USA, France, Germany, Portugal and Australia. 

Tickets and the full programme are available at nziff.co.nz 

Named by New York magazine as one of this year’s best podcasts, Finally features a range of women chatting about their lives, careers, aspirations and observations. With no host, narrator or interviewer, each 35-minute episode unfolds in its own meandering style as the women tell their stories in their own way.  

Topics traverse a mixture of lighthearted and heavier themes, and with special guests including a sound bath practitioner, a cat wrangler, a chess master and an 83-year-old former calendar girl, there’s something to pique a range of interests. Ideal for your commute or as background banter while pottering at home, this podcast will appeal to anyone who is curious about the lives of others. Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or iHeartRadio. 

Fans of true crime podcasts will enjoy this absorbing audio miniseries from The New Yorker magazine, about 2 princesses’ persistent attempts to escape from their father, the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.  

The series showcases years of painstaking work by investigative journalist Heidi Blake to piece together a harrowing story spanning the first 2 decades of this century, detailing the not-so-idyllic life for 2 young women born behind the gilded shutters of Dubai palaces.  

It’s a gripping yarn with multiple dimensions, ranging from thriller-like accounts of escape and recapture, descriptions of opulent royal lifestyles to the ongoing repression of human rights in the oil-rich Gulf States. Perhaps most disturbing are allegations about the willingness of the UK Government to turn a blind eye to accusations of kidnapping and the mistreatment of women by one of the world’s richest men, who also happens to be a key Western ally in the Middle East.  

The podcast is perfectly paced across 4 episodes, and with a total listening time of just under 3 hours, it’s recommended listening for your next 3-hour road trip. Available on Spotify or at NewYorker.com 

Blue Sisters from Coco Mellors dives deeply into the complex dynamics of sisterhood through the lives of 3 estranged siblings, Avery, Bonnie and Lucky, who reunite in New York following the death of their fourth sister, Nicky. 

Following the resounding success of Cleopatra and Frankenstein, Mellors’ second novel does what she does best – write about deeply interesting women.  

The novel explores intense themes of grief, addiction and desire with vivid character development and fraught emotional landscapes. Mellors’ rich character development carries the narrative. Her research into each of the sister’s respective interests adds a layer of authenticity to the characters’ experiences, making the story both compelling and heart-wrenchingly honest.  

Blue Sisters is available now at the book retailer of your choice.