DIRECTOR: Christine Jeffs
PRODUCER: Philippa Campbell
PRODUCTION CO: Communicado Productions, New Zealand Film Commission, Rain Film Productions, Rose Road
SCREENPLAY: Christine Jeffs, based on the novel by Kirsty Gunn
PHOTOGRAPHY: John Toon
EDITOR: Paul Maxwell
MUSIC: Neil Finn, Edmund McWilliams
WITH: Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki (Janey), Sarah Peirse (Kate), Márton Csókás (Cady), Alistair Browning (Ed), Aaron Murphy (Jim), David Taylor (Sam), Chris Sherwood (Ron), Claire Dougan (Joy), Alison Routledge (Heather)

FESTIVALS: Cannes, Venice, Toronto

REVIEW

“Signalling first-time feature director Christine Jeffs as a promising talent, Rain is an evocative mood piece, enriched by gorgeous visuals, about the dissolution of a marriage as a mother reaches out for excitement and escape and her 13-year-old daughter explores her own budding sexuality...

Set in the summer of 1972 at an underpopulated seaside spot where adolescent protagonist Janey and her family have rented a holiday cottage, the film swiftly establishes the mellow feel, lazy rhythms and agreeable idleness of the place. Janey and her kid brother Jim spend their days swimming, fishing and playing on the beach, while their mother Kate and father Ed laze around sipping bourbon and preparing for boozy parties at night with other vacationers.

Even before her father becomes aware of it, Janey learns of the affair between her mother and Cady, an itinerant photographer who moors his boat nearby... Indifferent to the advances of a local boy her own age, Janey instead enters naively and without much forethought into competition with her mother for Cady’s attention... Fulford-Wierzbicki skilfully negotiates the balance between girlish innocence, headstrong attitude and the burgeoning awareness of how to use her sexuality, while Peirse (Heavenly Creatures) conveys a poignant sense of an unsettled woman no longer getting anything out of her marriage. Young Murphy is a delight, bringing fresh, natural spark to his every scene…

Like so many New Zealand filmmakers, Jeffs and cinematographer Toon display a remarkable feel for nature and landscape and for the soft, glowing light particular to parts of the Southern Hemisphere. An eclectic range of music is widely and effectively used, from period pop to lovely original compositions by Neil Finn, working with Edmund McWilliams.”

— David Rooney, Variety

Picture
Click on image to link to Rain trailer at NZ On Screen

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

​Dunedin  
Wednesday, 06 March, 7.30pm

Bigger Picture Ōamaru  
Thursday, 21 March, 7.00pm

Wellington  
Monday, 08 April, 6.15pm

Nelson 
Wednesday, 17 April, 6.00pm

Auckland  
Monday, 29 April, 6.15pm 
This screening is open to the public, all tickets $10 (AFS members free). Tickets and memberships on sale now at Academy Cinemas

Whanganui   
Monday, 06 May, 7.00pm

Hamilton  
Monday, 13 May, 6.30pm

Canterbury  
Monday, 27 May, 7.00pm

Tauranga  
Wednesday, 12 June, 6.00pm

​New Plymouth  
Wednesday, 19 June, 6.00pm

​Palmerston North (re-scheduled)
Wednesday, 21 August, 6.00pm

Westport
Tuesday, 09 July, time tba

Timaru  
Tuesday, 23 July, 6.30pm
NZ FILM selection >>