Time to make plans for the weekend
Share this story
If you feel like indoor entertainment this weekend, the New Zealand International Film Festival is bringing a world of stories to local cinemas.
Feast of film
The New Zealand International Film Festival is under way at the Isaac Theatre Royal and Hoyts Northlands and it's looking like perfect weather to settle into a warm cinema. This year's festival has 90 films from more than 20 countries, including first releases of Kiwi films – features, documentaries and shorts – plus handpicked selections fresh from highly acclaimed awards circuits such as Cannes, Berlin and Sundance.
Christchurch has three world premieres this year, plus a live cinema event at the Isaac Theatre Royal on August 19. Director Nic Gorman will be at the world premiere screening of his psychological thriller, Human Traces, tonight at the Isaac Theatre Royal and Gaylene Preston will attend a question and answer session following the Sunday afternoon screening of her Helen Clark documentary, My Year with Helen.
The film Human Traces has its world premiere in Christchurch tonight.
Len Lye exhibition
Celebrated sculptor Len Lye, who was born in Christchurch, carved out a career that took him to Samoa, London, New York and Mallorca. Bursting with energy, his work bangs, crashes, bounces, sways, rotates and swings. The new exhibition, Len Lye: Stopped Short by Wonder, at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu opens on Saturday and features major sculptural works alongside Lye's films, drawings and paintings.
Planting day
Get your hands dirty and do your bit for the environment at our Ngā Puna Wai Planting Day on Saturday at 2pm. Located next to Canterbury Agricultural Park, Ngā Puna Wai is a wetland reserve with a lake and recreational tracks. Some 32 hectares of the reserve are being developed by Christchurch City Council into a major sports complex. Because of the development, several plants from the reserve have been transplanted to an area nearby where they will be well-sheltered. The Council is looking for lots of volunteers to infill 200 native plants and to spread mulch. Come along and help, but please bring your own spade and gloves.
Off-road racing
If you fancy watching some off-road racing action, head along to the purpose-built Canterbury Off-Road Raceway in West Melton on Sunday. See off-road trucks, buggies, ATVs and UTVS get "big air'' over the Mega Air Jump as they compete in round three of the South Island National Series. The action starts at 10.30am and entry is $10 for adults, with children under 15 free.
Historical figures recreated
Hear artist Julia Holden talk about her work in the exhibition Lyttelton Redux at the Canterbury Museum on Sunday from 2pm until 3pm. In this free talk, Holden will explain the elaborate technique she used to create the exhibition portraits as well as the stories behind the Lyttelton characters she has recreated. Holden will be joined by local resident and business owner David Bundy who became "The Lyttelton Butcher".
Working with Lyttelton Museum, Holden identified 23 historical figures connected to the town, from early settlers and land surveyors to a landscape artist and prominent suffrage campaigner. For each person, she found a present-day local connected to them to serve as a living canvas for the portraits in the exhibition, which is at the Museum until October 23.