WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW | NZIFF Written by Trevor Pronoso | Letterboxd: @CleverGurl | Instagram: @trev.pro | Contributing Writer The Wizard of the Kremlin dir. Olivier Assayas France/UK/USA, 145 mins Olivier Assayas is a known admirer of Guy Debord, which—despite my not having seen many Assayas films—allows me to make the fair assertion that The Wizard of the Kremlin is a work of détournement (he'd probably let film writers like me make such comparisons before he does), albei

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW | NZIFF Written by Trevor Pronoso | Letterboxd: @CleverGurl | Instagram: @trev.pro | Contributing Writer The Ice Tower dir. Lucile Hadžihalilović France, 145 mins There's this quote by Terence Davies that immediately popped into my mind halfway through watching The Ice Tower, where he talks about his first time seeing Singin' in the Rain (1952) at the age of seven: "During that scene in the rain, I cried and cried and cried… [My sister] asked, 'Why are

REVIEW | WEB EXCLUSIVE Written by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor Ahead of opening night, I caught up with director Grace Augustine to talk about reimagining Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People for present-day Aotearoa. You can read that interview here. She told me the production was motivated in part by increasing nitrate contamination in our freshwater, and by a desire to create political theatre that asks audiences to think critically about the systems gove

REVIEW | ISSUE NINE | WHAKAKATA / HUMOUR Written by Trevor Pronoso | Letterboxd: @CleverGurl | Instagram: @trev.pro | Contributing Writer With Hasan in Gaza (2025) dir. Kamal Aljafari France / Germany / Palestine / Qatar / Switzerland, 106 mins Within the first 30 minutes of this film, I could already tell the differing cinematic temperaments of director Kamal Aljafari and his tour guide, Hasan Elboubou. Throughout With Hasan in Gaza, Kamal would often instruct Hasan to take

REVIEW | ISSUE NINE | WHAKAKATA / HUMOUR Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai on IG & Letterboxd | Columnist The first UniFest short film competition resembles the kind of combination between creative outlet and filmmaking practice which I would have adored during my studies. It’s reassuring to see a body of undergrads wishing for the same, taking that into their own hands – run by the students, for the students. Each entry was held down by only two creative constraint

REVIEW | ISSUE NINE | WHAKAKATA / HUMOUR Written by Liam Hansen (they/them) | @liamhanse.n | Associate Editor It’s taken Paolo Bertolin, the New Zealand International Film Festival’s artistic director, a couple of years to find his footing away from the prestige of his homeland of Italy to the bonkers reality of New Zealand’s film industry. While the government struggles to comprehend the value of anything less than the millions generated by Peter Jackson and Taika Waititi as

REVIEW | ISSUE NINE | WHAKAKATA / HUMOUR Written by Trevor Pronoso | Letterboxd: @CleverGurl | Instagram: @trev.pro | Contributing Writer Out of the Blue (2006) dir. Robert Sarkies Aotearoa New Zealand, 103 mins During the post-screening Q&A, actor Matthew Sunderland shares something remarkably revealing when asked about the process of getting into the character of David Grey: that it was relatively easy to understand the psyche of David because most of what he needed to kno

WEB EXCLUSIVE | REVIEW & INTERVIEW Written by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | @uku_rangi | Arts, Culture, and Te Ao Māori Editor Dates: May 7, 8, 9 Location: Basement Theatre Tickets: $15-$28 Use code GOODCANT to have 20% off tickets Serving Can’t Created by Marshall Lorenzo is an energetic and chaotic dive into the absurdities of modern work, capitalism, and burnout. Packed with hyper-pop transitions, bright lighting, and a constant rotation of eccentric characters. Mars

FEATURE | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by Jed Scott (he/him) | @jed__scott | Contributing Writer Hello Debate readers! I have decided to review albums in this amazing magazine because I think my friends are getting tired of my ramblings, and I need other avenues to discuss music. Anyways, here are 6 new albums from 2026 that I would like to discuss with you all. Listen to them and support artists! Also, feel free to rip out this page and burn it (safely!) if you

REVIEW | WEB EXCLUSIVE | ARTS Written by Sanskruti Banerjee ( she/her) | @san._.banerjee | Contributing Writer BEHIND AERA THE LABEL Aera The Label, featuring their limited edition runs of ready to wear clothing made their debut of the Ride My Coattail collection, at Ahua Fashion Week 2026. Aera’s house of experimentation and stories revolves around conceptual fashion, every piece underpinned with whimsical, lace and flowy incorporations. A brand that celebrates community an

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | COLUMN | TUAKIRI / IDENTITY Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai on IG & Letterboxd | Film Columnist We're All Going To The Worlds Fair (Jane Schoenbrun, 2021) Spirit of the Beehive (Víctor Erice, 1973) The infallible tale of Mary Shelley’s ‘ Frankenstein ’ has seen a well-deserved refresh in the people’s consciousness since it was resurrected last Halloween season by Guillermo Del Toro, the monster-lovin’ sweetheart. As much as I wa

FEATURE | REVIEW | HANGA / CRAFT Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickylaitheokperson | Contributing Writer ‘You need to be bigger, you need to be bolder, and you need to be everywhere’ , declared Kaine Thompson, Chair of the 2025 board of the Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival on its opening night in Tāmaki Makaurau. These words were their vision statement as accrued from the previous year’s feedback, and yet I, who couldn’t have been sizzling more with e

REVIEW | ARTS | HANGA / CRAFT Written by Sanskruti Banerjee (she/her) | @san._.banerjee | Contributing Writer “Inspired by Europe’s...

ARTS | REVIEW | LISTICLE | HANGA / CRAFT Written by Jed Scott (he/him) | @jed__scott | Contributing Writer As we enter the final quarter...

REVIEW | PŪRĀKAU / MYTHOLOGY Written by Caeden Tipler (they/them) | @caedentipler | Contributing Writer Cannes is a prestigious...