POETRY | ISSUE TWELVE | NOSTALGIA Written by Elise Sadlier (she/her) | @elise_sadlier | Contributing Writer Illustrated by Nina Sipkes (she/her) | @teatimings | Contributing Artist We can play at war down by the dragonfly-bitten creek wielding hockey-stick guns shooting planes from the sky with our minds comb the kutus from our hair curling like pikopiko in the basin drowning in tea tree and lye Teach me nothing gentle to leap from bridges, from rocks to let the waves thras

COLUMN | ISSUE TWELVE | NOSTALGIA Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai on IG & Letterboxd | Columnist A Boy Named Charlie Brown (Bill Melendez, 1969) Out of the gate, one must admit this feature – 86 minutes of Charlie Brown, what a dream! – isn’t the peak of Peanuts. It has the mood but not the wit, and in its slight lack of inspiration it even flat-out reprises scenes from the beloved, 25-minute television specials: Snoopy twirling on an icy lake to Guaraldi’s “Skati

RECCOMENDATIONS | ISSUE TWELVE | NOSTALGIA Created by Sophia He | Graphic Designer

KŌRERO TOI | ISSUE TWELVE | NOSTALGIA Written by Danielle Chen (she/they) | @Dermillion | Contributing Artists My artistic practice explores the second-hand nostalgia I feel for my father’s vibrant juvenile past in Taiwan, and my longing for his youthful experiences there. I researched 20th-century Taiwanese masculine youth and pop culture, combining it with my interpretation of my father’s life during that period. This is how I’ve created a romanticised and partially fiction

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW | NZIFF This is part of a series of roundtable discussions and extended dialogues conducted by Ricky Lai (@rickthelai), Trevor Pronoso (@CleverGurl), Madeline Smith (@prime4illusion), and Caeden Tipler (@ctipler) on films that have premiered at NZIFF 2026. The following exchange is between Ricky, Trevor, and Madeline on Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's latest film, All of a Sudden. All of a Sudden (2026) dir. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi France/Japan, 196 mins Trevor: Another

REVIEW | NZIFF | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION This is part of a series of roundtable discussions and extended dialogues conducted by Ricky Lai (@rickthelai), Trevor Pronoso (@CleverGurl), Madeline Smith (@prime4illusion), and Caeden Tipler (@ctipler) on films that have premiered at NZIFF 2026. The following exchange is between Trevor, Madeline and Caeden on Gregg Araki's latest film, I Want Your Sex. I Want Your Sex (2026) dir. Gregg Araki USA, 90 mins Trevor: Gregg really is a fil

REVIEW | NZIFF | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION This is part of a series of roundtable discussions and extended dialogues conducted by Ricky Lai (@rickthelai), Trevor Pronoso (@CleverGurl), Madeline Smith (@prime4illusion), and Caeden Tipler (@ctipler) on films that have premiered at NZIFF 2026. The following exchange is between Ricky and Caeden on Cristian Mungiu's latest film, Fjord. Fjord (2026) dir. Cristian Mungiu Norway, 146 mins Ricky: Early on in Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks &

REVIEW | NZIFF | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION This is part of a series of roundtable discussions and extended dialogues conducted by Ricky Lai (@rickthelai), Trevor Pronoso (@CleverGurl), Madeline Smith (@prime4illusion), and Caeden Tipler (@ctipler) on films that have premiered at NZIFF 2026. The following exchange is between Ricky, Trevor, and Madeline on Jane Schoenbrun's latest film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026) dir. Jane Sch

EDITORIAL | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor In 1959, a New Zealand writer published a novel about gay love. Two years later, that novel was banned in New Zealand for being indecent. Now, 67 years after its original publication, A Way of Love is being republished, and its story is an important piece of Aotearoa’s queer literary history. Written by James Courage (1903–1963), A Way of Love was first published by Jonathan Cap

RECCOMENDATIONS | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION Written by Sophia He (she/her) | Graphic Designer

KŌRERO TOI | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (they/them) | Whakatōhea, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa | @uku_rangi | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor Art has the ability to become a bridge between people and the environments they inhabit. Through processes of colonisation, urbanisation, and extraction, we have increasingly become disconnected from our environment. Isolated from the whenua that sustains us. This disconnection is not only physical,

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW | NZIFF This is part of a series of roundtable discussions and extended dialogues conducted by Ricky Lai (@rickthelai), Trevor Pronoso (@CleverGurl), Madeline Smith (@prime4illusion), and Caeden Tipler (@ctipler) on films that have premiered at NZIFF 2026. Minotaur (2026) dir. Andzrej Zvyagintsev France/Latvia/Germany, 135 mins The following exchange is between Ricky and Madeline on Andzrej Zvyagintsev's latest film, Minotaur. Ricky: Early on in Minota

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW | NZIFF This is part of a series of roundtable discussions and extended dialogues conducted by Ricky Lai (@rickthelai), Trevor Pronoso (@CleverGurl), Madeline Smith (@prime4illusion), and Caeden Tipler (@ctipler) on films that have premiered at NZIFF 2026. The History of Concrete (2026) dir. John Wilson USA, 101 mins The following exchange is between Ricky and Madeline on John Wilson's latest film, The History of Concrete. Ricky: Overheard from an audi

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW | NZIFF Written by Trevor Pronoso | Letterboxd: @CleverGurl | Instagram: @trev.pro | Contributing Writer Kiri and Lou Go Raaa! (2026) dir. Harry Sinclair, Antony Elworthy Aotearoa New Zealand, 61 mins I think back to the previous animated film screening I attended, Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tail Tale, and wonder if such a dedicatedly nostalgic (older) audience for that film will be the case for Kiri and Lou 40 years from now. Though Footrot Flats is ma

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW | NZIFF This is part of a series of roundtable discussions and extended dialogues conducted by Ricky Lai (@rickthelai), Trevor Pronoso (@CleverGurl), Madeline Smith (@prime4illusion), and Caeden Tipler (@ctipler) on films that have premiered at NZIFF 2026. The Ice Tower (2025) dir. Lucile Hadžihalilović France, 117 mins The following exchange is between Ricky and Trevor on Lucile Hadžihalilović's latest film, The Ice Tower. Ricky: Bear with me here. In