Friday's opening night at the Isaac Theatre Royal will feature Dame Jane Campion's new film, The Power of the Dog, which was well received at the recent the Venice Film Festival.
The festival opening was to take place in Auckland, but ongoing Covid-19 restrictions made this impossible.
Festival chair Catherine Fitzgerald said it is the most star-studded lineup of flicks the festival has ever shown.
"Because really we're bringing films from two years of the major festivals of the world because last year most of those films weren't available to us because we were screening online. And so this year we've got an amazing lineup."
Campion won the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the Venice festival. She will also be honored with the "Mind the Gap - Best Innovation" award at Mill Valley and the film was second runner-up for the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Power of the Dog was based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemon, Keith Carradine, and Frances Conroy.
Fitzgerald urged punters to book ahead for the NZ festival as there will be social distancing and reduced capacity at theatres.
