This month on Rialto Channel the Director’s Series celebrates the work of British filmmaker Stephen Frears. Prick up Your Ears, The Hit and Cheri all screen in the Sunday evening slot, along with one of his most successful films of late, The Queen. Helen Mirren is superb, and regardless of whether you’re watching this film for the first, second or third time this Dame will keep you captivated.

If you love film this is an exciting time of the year. Thanks to ‘awards season’, specifically the Golden Globes and The Oscars, film distributors in New Zealand make the most of the much hyped award nominees and we get a couple of great films released almost every week over the coming months.

Well, here we go again! Another year has arrived and this January Rialto Channel has another superb lineup of films, including a collection of crime documentaries profiling an interesting array of characters and subjects. Check my blog later this week for a more in-depth look at what’s coming up in the Rialto Documentary slot on Thursday evenings, but in the meantime make a note to watch the profile on cultural icon, pimp and author Iceberg Slim in Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp.

I guess I watch about 300 feature, documentary and short films a year, so you may think I'd like a break over the holidays. But not so, I've already checked to see what's playing at the cinemas at the places I'll be holidaying in with my family this year, and I've got a lineup of DVDs of films I've missed this year and want to catch-up on. There are also plenty of must-see titles playing on Rialto Channel over the coming week.

Are you sick of people asking if you’ve done all your Christmas shopping or where you’re going for the holidays? In amongst the organising, excitement and indulging at this time of year it’s nice to remember there’s more to Christmas than statutory holidays.

Following on the heels of remarkable documentaries The Law in These Parts and Budrus comes The Gatekeepers, another fascinating insight into the ongoing Israeli-Palestine conflict that has raged since the end of the Six Day War in 1967.

If you’re after something a little lighter this week, perhaps to ease you through the pre-Christmas chaos, then check out Quartet.

Well, the night belonged to Shopping, the Kapiti Coast set coming-of-age story written and directed by Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston. Nominated for 13 awards, Shopping took home three of the major awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards last night.

Films featuring on Rialto Channel this week vary from a romantic comedy about the invention of a sex toy, starring Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal, to an American documentary exploring the deadly serious issue of third trimester abortions. I've also thrown a British mockumentary into the highlights for a little light relief.

The long awaited feature film debut from talented writers/directors Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, Shopping debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Mark and Louis, the team behind internationally acclaimed short films Run and The Six Dollar Fifty Man, kindly found the time to have a chat about what they learned while making the film.

In December, Rialto Channel celebrates World Cinema with Rialto World, a season that continues through January, focusing on one country each week with films on Tuesdays and Wednesday evenings at 8.30pm. It’s your passport around the world and an opportunity to meet the hottest new writer-directors on the scene today. Mexican film Abel kicks off my highlights this week.