Jacob Powell

Kaituhi Tūtahi | Contributing Writer

Jacob Powell has been reviewing film, writing on cinema and other topics both online and occasionally in print since 2005. He also works as an Auckland-based university librarian specialising in digital AV media and research collections. Follow him on Twitter @jacobunny.

Everything By: Jacob Powell

Screen09.08.17

Family Tatters: A Review of Loveless

Without love to temper them, disappointment turns to blame and frustration to vitriol in Andrey Zvyagintsev’s stark depiction of one family’s implosion and the tragic after-effects.

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Jacob Powell reviews Gaylene Preston's documentary on Helen Elizabeth Clark

Screen27.07.17

Consisting of seven short films from Māori and Pasifika filmmakers, 2017’s Ngā Whanaunga programme boasts a strong line-up that explores modern city, country, and island life for indigenous people. With a focus on the challenges of youth, the selection offers thoughtful comment on a wide range of topics including culture, whanau, gender and sexuality.

Screen24.07.17

Not all Mid-life Crises: A Review of Pop Aye

While some (male) mid-life crises come calling in the form of a clichéd sports car and a significantly younger romantic partner, in Kirsten Tan’s Pop Aye, jaded architect Thana reconnects with his youth via the ministrations of an aging elephant and a rural karaoke queen.

Screen19.07.17

My Florian Habit

Jacob Powell on the infectious and electric Florian Habicht, the films and the maker.

Screen27.08.16

Best Worst Podcast: 2016 NZIFF wrap-up (Pt I)

Join Doug Dillaman and Jacob Powell – joined by Metro film writer David Larsen – as they go head-to-head for the Best Worst Podcast wrap-up of the Festival in 2016.

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Jacob Powell reports back from week two of the NZIFF, with The Wounded Angel, Wild, Sieranevada, The Greasy Strangler, The Lure, Paterson and Johnny Guitar

Screen03.08.16

Review: Toni Erdmann

An exquisite and gleefully modern German ‘reunification’ tale, Toni Erdmann brings together a daughter who’s forgotten how to laugh and a father who doesn’t know when to let the joke die.

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Review: A War

Decisions made in heat of the moment can have unintended, far-reaching consequences. A War presents a confronting tale of a good man who makes a grave mistake and asks: who pays the costs?

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Review: A Dragon Arrives!

If 1960s Hollywood fever-dreamed in Farsi, it might get halfway to the Pollock-like ‘pour it and see’ genius of Mani Haghighi’s A Dragon Arrives!

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Jacob Powell reports back from week one of the NZIFF, featuring Radio Dreams, Neruda, Chevalier, The Eagle Huntress and I, Daniel Blake.

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Review: Kate Plays Christine

Jacob Powell reviews Robert Greene's dizzingly unconventional new documentary, Kate Plays Christine.

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Review: Poi E: The Story of Our Song

A shot of pure nostalgic joy, Tearepa Kahi’s Poi E: The Story of Our Song unearths the vision and struggle that drove a te reo Māori song into 1980s New Zealand pop culture.

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