Reviewing the Six NZIFF Cinema Venues of Tāmaki Makaurau for NZIFF 2025

FEATURE | REVIEWS | TANGATA WHENUA / LOCAL

Written by Daniel Tang | Contributing Writer

&

Written by Caeden Tipler (they/them) | @caedentipler | Contributing Writer

Bolstering six venues for this year’s Whānau Mārama, the New Zealand International Film Festival’s offering for Tāmaki Makaurau cinemagoers ranged from beloved boutiques to the grandiose Civic Theatre. From getting there to accessibility and the experience, we review our time at these theatres as a representation of what our city has to offer. To cover every venue on offer, Caeden generously helped review The Lido and Bridgeway Cinemas.

Academy Cinemas

A cult cinema-going staple in what Tāmaki Makaurau has to offer, the tight underground Academy Cinemas is a home for all sorts of film lovers from the casual or budget-conscious to true cinephiles. For the uninitiated, they do $5 Wednesdays and host a number of classic and niche film screenings. The unassuming entrance, right along the front of the city centre Auckland Library, leads to a long stairwell down to the lobby where you can purchase tickets, food, and drinks. Fittingly, the lobby is adorned with Blu-rays and posters on sale. Unfortunately, the lobby and theatres also struggle with internet reception while below ground. 

An easy City Link ride or walk from other central city pillars like the Auckland Art Gallery, getting to Academy Cinemas is a non-issue for public transport users. However, I understand that those with accessibility needs should contact the venue in advance or on the day. Those unable or preferring not to traverse the relatively steep stairs must use the intercom by the entrance to call a staff member to operate the venue elevator. Once in, the main theatre room itself has steps leading out to the lobby and between the small but serviceable seat rows. Flawed but intimate, you get the distinct impression that Academy Cinemas is doing what they can, to mostly great results, to provide a staple cinema-going experience with the physical venue they have.

SkyCity Theatre

The SkyCity Theatre, right above the SkyCity Casinos, is a smaller, hidden venue hosting one large theatre space in the heart of Tāmaki Makaurau. I found myself here after an unexpected venue change for this year's newly merged Ngā Whanaunga New Zealand's Best Shorts after previous iterations at the ASB Waterfront Theatre. Getting here, public transport with a brief walk was mostly convenient as expected of the CBD, provided the modest entrance is somewhat tucked away. Alternatively, SkyCity underground parking links directly to the theatre through the spiraling stairwell and elevators. However, the whole place seemed more befitting as a conference space, with retractable lecture-style seating, a too-tightly packed lobby before and after the screenings, and a well-attended food and drink stand, rather than a space for creatives and all-ages accessibility. Seats were on the narrower side with a descending step between each row toward the stage and screen. Your mileage will certainly vary, with the audio mix compelling me and my mate seated centre-middle to block our ears during peak volumes. Furthermore, wheelchair users may find the venue unwelcoming and difficult to navigate without wayfinding assistance from staff, especially as a cinema-goer avoiding steps where you could find yourself seated right down front craning your neck up at the large screen. An overall great venue to hear a TED Talk or corporate conference, but with ample room for improvement as part of a film festival.

The Lido

The Lido is an upmarket cinema in the heart of Epsom on the busy Manauku Road. It’s a beloved venue for classic and indie film lovers (I have a fondness for it as it’s the cinema that introduced me to Audrey Hepburn), and it makes an opportune addition to the venue lineup this year. Parking can be a struggle - likely leading to a bit of a walk down one of the side streets. However, bus stops for the 30, 309, and 65 are all located nearby. While lacking the grandeur of the Civic, it offers far more comfortable seating and bigger gaps between rows. Unlike the Civic (which has its perks!), there are also proper armrests where you can put down the drinks or popcorn you’ve bought from the snack bar. The main cinema is upstairs, but in their helpfully labelled t-shirts, the film festival volunteers were ready to point us in the right direction. The one elevator was in near constant use, although I didn’t get the impression the wait times were particularly long despite how full the theatre was. The only disturbance to my cinema-going experience was the unclear seat numbering, which led to some confusion and shuffling in my row. 

Hollywood Avondale

Built in a modest but unmistakable neo-classical architectural style and clearly a labour of love from its owners, the Hollywood Avondale is a single-theatre boutique venue. Situated right by the main road, the venue is walking distance from the Avondale train station and a good chunk of Southwest Auckland buses. Alternatively, there is some informal roadside parking along the surrounding residential area as is suggested on their website. Once inside, the film festival staff were incredibly nice and helpful (huge shoutout to whoever had a blunt blond mullet, I see you!). As with the other venues, the concession stand offered a reasonable selection of snacks, ice cream and drinks. Regarding the cinema theatre, the balcony seats are personally far superior to the floor-level seating for visibility and comfort. With ambient blue and red lighting ironically matching my screening of Brazilian queer drama Night Stage, the venue bursts with personality compared to some other Tāmaki Makaurau venues, if at the cost of being relatively harder to reach from the other side of town. I note that I did not request or note in-person accessibility details for this venue beyond the NZIFF’s statement that there are three wheelchair seating spaces, there is ramp access via a side entrance, and an accessible bathroom is available from the courtyard.

Bridgeway Cinemas

Bridgeway Cinemas is a gem in the heart of Northcote. Opening in 1927, it got its current name in 1959 after the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in a radio competition, according to Discover Auckland. Having a more expansive range of venues was an exciting selling point for the festival this year, however, for those of us on the other side of the bridge it can be a hassle to get to. I saw a 6pm screening, meaning I had to get from the city across the bridge in peak-hour Auckland traffic. On weekdays, there are several buses (921, 922) that run from the University of Auckland to right by the cinema. I was able to catch one of these, and despite peak-hour traffic, it was highly efficient. However, public transport routes on weekends would require far more walking. There are side streets nearby that could be used for parking, at least. There’s a set of stairs to get to the cinema screen upstairs, but there is an elevator available, as well as accessible seating. This was my first time going to the cinema and I wasn’t familiar with the layout. Unfortunately, most of the seat numbers are completely rubbed off, leading to even more seating confusion than what I had experienced at The Lido. 

The Civic

At the heart of Tāmaki Makaurau and Whānau Mārama is The Civic. There’s the grandiose facades hugging the walls inside the theatre. The iconic night sky ceiling. The truly stellar lobby area and various nooks and crannies like the most beautiful, artistic maze. The Civic is truly awe-striking every time I have the privilege to enter the venue – especially when seated in the staggeringly angled but stunning upper floor ‘Circle’ seating. Commuting is as easy as the city centre can realistically be, and there are plenty of restaurants and dessert joints in the surrounding area. Inside what would normally be a spacious, ambiently lit lobby, the box office contains incredibly patient and helpful film festival staff, and further in there is a reliable but overpriced concession stand ($8 for a small popcorn is frankly ridiculous, even though that is market pricing). Unfortunately, opening night – screening Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winning It Was Just an Accident – meant a beyond bustling crowd and queue to enter the venue. Once my friends and I arrived at the venue, the queue to get inside snaked up along Queen Street all the way towards Aotea Square; both a show of NZIFF’s resounding popularity this year, and indicative of some event management problems forcing cinemagoers to stand outside on a cold Thursday night. 

There was a real sense of community among us all, extending to applauds during the extended opening night speeches by NZIFF artistic director and lover of comfy-looking sweaters Paolo Bertolin and the other organisers. Notably missing, was the typical presence of the Minister of Culture and Heritage. Without over-speculating, I note the next night at The Civic for the world premiere of Workmates, a producer finished his introducing speech with “Fuck Fascism. Toitū Te Tiriti. Free Palestine.”

A Special Note on Accessibility at The Civic for the Opening Night of NZIFF 2025

Regarding the previously mentioned ridiculous crowding and queue, we were pleased that there was a security guard stationed outside who helped us skip the queue to accommodate accessible needs and instead enter through the box office towards the main lobby area – still just as crowded as outside. We note that some cinemagoers should have been more conscious of a wheelchair user, and given some physical room for movement rather than rushing past us and otherwise being situationally unaware. 

The crowding was overwhelming at most times entering and exiting the venue during the opening night. There was excellent handover from the security guard to a uniformed NZIFF helper who then escorted us along the accessible corridor and up the elevator to the accessible entrance to the Stalls inside the theatre (the fit out being part of The Civic’s extension 25 years ago, as explained with beaming candour by the employee). This process appears to have been foreseen for wheelchair-using cinemagoers and flagged to staff, possibly related to me reaching out to them and Auckland Live ahead of time to kind and relatively timely, even if not fully informative, responses from their team. The helpfulness from NZIFF cannot be understated, and the location, spaciousness, and companion seat arrangement of the accessible seating is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, there remains room for improvement. I understand from the NZIFF staff that there is only one accessible bathroom for the venue, tucked at the back of the box office. Getting past patrons and a potentially obstructing box office desk on wheels seems inconvenient, let alone the two tightly-spaced turns required to reach the bathroom. Finally, a photographer with a professional camera attempted to take photos of my friend immediately upon seeing them in a wheelchair and without asking for their express or implied permission. It is unclear whether they were there in a professional or personal capacity, but either way it led to a briefly uncomfortable situation. We hope this was a misunderstanding and that any such targeted photography of singled-out patrons would only happen with their express permission (including for personal use or any publication) at an event organised by NZIFF. Nevertheless, we hope NZIFF continues to build on the thoughtful work they have done towards accessibility for communities with different needs.

I extend my deepest thanks and gratitude to my dear friend for giving us permission to share and review their lived experience of The Civic’s accessibility as a wheelchair user during NZIFF’s opening night.

Overall, we loved these six venues. Tāmaki Makaurau needs more, not less, investment in accessible, diverse and well-funded third spaces including cinemas and theatres like these places. We look forward to Kaine Thompson’s (Chair of the NZFF Trust) promise to come back next year with an even bigger, bolder, and accessible Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival in our wonderful city of Tāmaki Makaurau.