Whānau Mārama festival showcases diverse new films including horror, animation and documentaries

The Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival 2026 featured a diverse slate of films, with critics praising works including Jane Schoenbrun's horror film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, animated feature Little Amélie or The Character of Rain, and documentaries such as John Wilson's The History of Concrete and Nuisance Bear about polar bears in Canada. Local feature Big Girls Don't Cry was hailed as capturing a distinctly Aotearoa experience of adolescence. The festival also screened international works including body horror film Saccharine and Australian dark comedy The Fox starring Sam Neill.

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