NZIFF 2021 Christchurch Programme

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The Most Beautiful Boy in the World Världens vackraste pojke

Portraits

Directors: Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri Sweden 2021 | 99 mins With: Björn Andrésen, Annike Andresen, Silva Filmer Cinematography: Erik Vallsten Editors: Dino Jonsäter, Hanna Lejonqvist Languages: In Swedish, English, French and Japanese, with English subtitles Festivals: Sundance, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX 2021

Individuals who have left an indelible mark on our world are the subjects of these insightful documentary profiles. Pioneers and iconoclasts, famed and unknown, living and departed, these diverse personalities have little in common but for the remarkable impact on the lives of those they touch.

London, 1971. Luchino Visconti premieres Death in Venice and introduces his young star, teenager Björn Andrésen, as “the most beautiful boy in the world”. Half a century later, living in squalor and on the verge of eviction, Andrésen’s youthful beauty is barely recognisable, but the vulnerability that made him a compelling screen presence and worldwide star remains overwhelming. While The Most Beautiful Boy in the World paints an unflattering portrait of Visconti’s treatment of Andrésen, it also tells the story of a talented but troubled boy whose trauma began long before Visconti – and whose exploitation continued long after Venice left cinemas. From Japan, where he became a pop idol, to Paris, where a string of men

took interest in the “beautiful boy”, Andrésen revisits the sites of his tragedy-filled life. Filmed with grace and intimacy, and aided by Super 8 footage of his youth, directors Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri dodge sensationalism as Andrésen – most recently seen in an unforgettable, stomach-churning cameo in Midsommar (NZIFF 2019) – struggles with the burdens of his past. — Doug Dillaman

Screenings LUM LUM LUM LUM

Fri 5 Nov, 6.00 pm Sat 6 Nov, 1.00 pm Tue 9 Nov, 4.00 pm Mon 15 Nov, 8.15 pm Sexual references & content

M that may disturb

My Father and Me

Director: Nick Broomfield UK 2019 | 97 mins With: Maurice Broomfield, Nick Broomfield Producers: Kyle Gibbon, Shani Hinton, Marc Hoeferlin Editors: Joe Siegal, Marc Hoeferlin Music: Nick Laird-Clowes Festivals: New York, Vancouver 2019

Filmmaker Nick Broomfield has played a large role in popularising the self-reflective documentary subgenre, in which making the film is itself the subject of the film, over his four-decade career. In his latest feature, however, he stops chasing the powerful and dangerous to instead memorialise his photographer father, Maurice Broomfield. Maurice is credited as being one of Britain’s foremost photographers following the end of World War II, known for his elaborately staged scenes of industry, casting workers as the protagonists in England’s industrial boom. With skillfully applied lighting, contrived scenes and posed employees, the photographer created beautiful, if artificial, records of the nation’s industrial apex.

The father’s approach to art is wholly different from the son’s, and these ideological differences form the entry point of the documentary. Warm and insightful, the film is as much about the ideas and actions that ruled the 20th century as it is the intricacies of life for a family of creatives. My Father and Me is a moving look at how the past shapes the present and how difference can breed respect. — Adrian Hatwell

Screenings ITR LUM LUM LUM

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Sat 6 Nov, 10.45 am Tue 9 Nov, 12.45 pm Wed 10 Nov, 6.00 pm Fri 12 Nov, 12.15 pm Documentary film exempt from NZ Classification labelling requirements


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NZIFF 2021 Christchurch Programme by Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival - Issuu