What cookies are
Cookies are small text files that a website can place in your browser. On a later visit, the browser may return that information to the website, helping it remember a setting or understand how its pages are being used. They are not programs, and they do not independently access files, payment information, or other material on your device. For a reader moving between film criticism, essays, character dossiers, galleries, and viewing guides, cookies can support a more consistent and usable visit.
Related technologies
This policy may also refer to local storage, pixels, tags, and similar tools when they perform a comparable function. Depending on the feature involved, these technologies may retain a setting, help measure page use, or support embedded content. The term “cookies” is used here as a practical shorthand for these related technologies, without suggesting that every tool is always active on every visit.
Scope of this policy
This policy applies to visits to https://filmmosaic.com. It does not govern independent websites that you may reach through a link from Film Mosaic. Those websites may use their own cookies and publish their own privacy information, which you should review when relevant.
How Film Mosaic uses cookies
Deliver and protect the site
Strictly necessary technologies can support the dependable delivery of pages, security safeguards, load balancing, and the storage of a visitor’s cookie decision. These functions are intended to keep Film Mosaic usable and secure while you read editorial material or move between sections of the site.
Where permitted by applicable law, necessary technologies may operate without optional consent because the service cannot function properly without them. Their use is limited to practical website operation rather than promotional profiling.
Remember reading preferences
Preference technologies may remember settings that make a repeat visit less repetitive, such as display or consent preferences where those features are available. They are intended to support a more consistent reading experience, not to promise account features or personalisation tools that may not be offered.
If those technologies are unavailable or disabled, you may need to select a preference again on a future visit.
Understand editorial readership
Optional analytics may help Film Mosaic understand aggregate patterns, such as which editorial sections are visited, whether readers can move through long-form articles clearly, and where technical performance can be improved. This information helps the publication refine navigation, readability, and page reliability.
We use this information for site improvement rather than advertising-network or behavioural-profiling purposes. Optional technologies remain subject to visitor choice where required; you can manage that choice through available consent controls and browser settings.
Cookie categories and duration
The categories below are a practical way to understand the functions described in this policy. They are not an exhaustive inventory of every technical identifier that may be used. Technologies in use can change as the site evolves, so please revisit this policy when material changes are made.
| Category | Typical purpose | Duration and control |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary Required for core functions | These technologies can enable fundamental website operation, security safeguards, dependable page delivery, and storage of a visitor’s cookie decision. | They may be session-based or persist for the limited period needed to remember a setting. Where permitted, they may not be disabled through site consent controls because core functions depend on them. |
| Preference and functional Optional where enabled | These optional technologies can remember visitor choices and support a more consistent return experience when relevant functions are enabled. | They may last for a browsing session or until expiry or deletion. If disabled, some preferences may need to be selected again. |
| Analytics Optional measurement | These optional technologies can help us understand aggregate readership and improve content, navigation, clarity, and technical performance. | They may remain for a session or a defined persistent period, depending on the technology. Manage optional analytics through consent controls or browser settings where applicable. |
Session and persistent cookies
Session cookies are generally deleted when you close your browser. Persistent cookies remain until they expire or you delete them manually. Browser settings may affect whether and how either type is stored. Film Mosaic does not publish unsupplied technical expiry values here because durations can depend on the technology and the purpose it supports.
Managing cookie preferences
Use the site’s consent controls
Where available, the shared consent controls on Film Mosaic allow you to accept, reject, or adjust optional cookie categories. Changing a choice applies going forward and may require you to refresh the page or revisit the site before the change is reflected. These controls are designed to be reachable by keyboard as well as pointer or touch input.
Use browser settings
Most browsers also allow you to review, block, or delete cookies. The steps differ by browser, device, and version, so consult your browser’s help documentation for current instructions. Browser-level settings may affect Film Mosaic and other websites you visit, because they can apply more broadly than a choice made through a particular site’s consent controls.
Third parties, external links, and policy updates
Third-party content and services
Third-party features or embedded services, if used, may set or access their own technologies under their own privacy and cookie terms. Film Mosaic does not control those third-party policies. When a third-party feature is relevant to your visit, review that provider’s notices to understand how it handles cookies and other information.
External media-directory links
Film Mosaic may link readers to independent destinations for practical viewing research, including the New Zealand streaming and cinema directory at JustWatch NZ. Following such a link takes you to a separate service. Availability information, cookies, and data practices at that destination are governed by its own terms and policies; Film Mosaic does not control its listings or streaming availability.
Visit JustWatch NZ’s streaming and cinema directory ↗ (opens in a new tab)Changes to this policy
Film Mosaic may update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in website practices, legal requirements, or relevant technologies. The effective date identifies the latest version. We encourage you to review this page periodically, particularly if you want to understand how a change may affect your choices.
Effective date: 20 September 2026