For more than 30 years Bill Gosden has directed the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF).
In that time, he's seen the shift to digital movies, and all of the changes that go along with it.
"It's changed all our lives. It's made things available much more quickly and it's a key element in understanding the expansion of the film festival and it getting bigger because it takes fewer people to process the films."
He says the shift to digital is reflected in the audience, and what they're looking for in a film festival.
"Generally, there's just so much more readily available to people, in terms of moving pictures, it's not just movies now, it's television, YouTube it's this whole vast playground out there."
He says the festival is becoming more about contemporary film premiers similar to Tickled last night, with a big social and community aspect to it.
The pull to watch classic films such as The King and I in a setting like the Civic is also attractive to folks of all ages; older people can be reminded of the setting they may have watched it in growing up, and younger people can experience it like their parents or grandparents.
Mr Gosden, along with a programming team, watch hundreds of films every year for consideration for the NZIFF.
The main NZIFF event is in July, but the Autumn warm-up premiered last night, with David Farrier's Tickled.
The Autumn Events is a warm-up sampler -- a chance for people to venture out to the Civic in Auckland, the Embassy in Wellington, the Regent in Dunedin, or Hoyts Riccarton in Christchurch, and see classic movies and premieres.
Between 150 and 170 films screen during the NZIFF in Auckland and Wellington over a 17-day season. A smaller programme then travels to 12 other locations across the country.
It's operated by the New Zealand Film Festival Trust; a non-profit, registered charitable trust. It became the NZIFF in 2009 when several film festivals around the country collaborated.
This is the fourth year of the Autumn Events, where a small number of classic films and New Zealand premieres screen.
Newshub.
