Official trailer released for acclaimed Kiwi feature Big Girls Don't Cry

Opening the New Zealand International Film Festival tonight in Tāmaki Makaurau and across Aotearoa this Winter after its Sundance premiere and Grand Prix win at the Biarritz Film Festival Nouvelles Vaugues.

The official trailer for Big Girls Don't Cry, the acclaimed debut feature from New Zealand filmmaker Paloma Schneideman, has been released today, ahead of the film opening tonight’s 2026 New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF). Following a hugely successful international festival run, the film will open in all festival locations as a part of NZIFF before being released in cinemas nationwide on October 8.

Set during one transformative summer in rural New Zealand in 2006, the film follows 14-year-old Sid Bookman as she navigates friendship, identity, sexuality, desire and the rapidly expanding online world. Desperate to reinvent herself, Sid becomes caught between childhood and adolescence as she searches for belonging among a group of older teenagers.

Shot on location in Auckland, Omaha and the wider Matakana region, the film offers a distinctly Kiwi portrait of adolescence while capturing universal experiences of longing, self-discovery and connection. Against the backdrop of dial-up internet, MSN Messenger and the cultural shifts of the early 2000s, Big Girls Don't Cry delivers an intimate and emotionally resonant coming-of-age story, imbued with a quiet queer sensibility.

The film stars newcomer Ani Palmer in a breakout lead performance as Sid alongside Rain Spencer (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Good Girl Jane), acclaimed Australian actor Noah Taylor (Almost Famous, Shine), Tara Canton, Ngātaitangirua Hita, Beatrix Rain Wolfe, and Poroaki Merritt-McDonald (Sgt. Haane, Muru).

Big Girls Don’t Cry made its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and was a finalist for Sundance's prestigious World Cinema Dramatic Award before screening at major international festivals including SXSW, BFI Flare London and TIFF Next Wave.

The film has since earned widespread high-praise on the international festival circuit, culminating in a Grand Prix win at the Nouvelles Vagues International Film Festival in Biarritz, where the jury was led by actor, filmmaker and Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. Presenting the Grand Prix award to the film, Stewart praised Schneideman's debut feature, saying:

“I love this film with all my heart. What happens to this girl happens to all of us, one way or another. This experience didn't take me back into trauma. It allowed me to see what this young girl couldn't see: that she is the coolest girl. And even though it hurts terribly now, everything will be alright."

Written and directed by Paloma Schneideman, Big Girls Don't Cry is the first feature film to emerge from Jane Campion's A Wave in the Ocean programme, the pioneering initiative created by the two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker to support emerging New Zealand directors. Campion also serves as an executive producer on the film.

Director Paloma Schneideman says returning home with the film is especially meaningful:

"I made Big Girls Don't Cry for my 14-year-old self. Not for comfort, but for catharsis. It's a deeply personal film, and bringing it home to Aotearoa - to the people it was made for and by- feels incredibly special."

Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Schneideman is a filmmaker and musician whose previous short films, including Memory Foam, Gate Crash and Mine, have screened at festivals including NZIFF. Big Girls Don't Cry marks her feature directorial debut.

The film is produced by Vicky Pope and Thomas Coppell for POP Film and Tomorrow, Rain, with executive producers including Jane Campion and Philippa Campbell. Made with support from the New Zealand Film Commission, the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate, Hinterland Creative, Images & Sound, A Wave In the Ocean, and other key partners, the film is distributed in New Zealand by Madman Entertainment, and Australia.

Producer Vicky Pope says the film's selection as Opening Night at NZIFF reflects its deep connection to New Zealand audiences:

"This is a story about youth, identity, friendship and belonging told with honesty, humour and heart. We're incredibly proud to be bringing the film home after such a remarkable international journey and thrilled the New Zealand audiences we made it for, will experience it together for the first time."

Big Girl’s Don’t Cry opens the New Zealand International Film Festival this July across Aotearoa - find all the info and tickets here. The film will then release nationwide on October 8th.