NZIFF: Auckland Erupts
Simon Zhou previews the Auckland Erupts section of the 2010 NZ International Film Festival. See more previews here.
A volcanic salvo of World Premieres of local films so incandescent you’ll leave the cinema nothing more than a pile of ashes. Or at the very least, you’ll recognize some of the locations from the films.
Simone Horrocks, whose short film Spindrift won the Best Panorama Short at the Berlin Film Festival, makes her directorial debut with After the Waterfall, a psychologically rich existential drama about a father whose daughter disappears suddenly, leaving him to confront the wreckage. The promotional shot of a topless Anthony Starr (of Outrageous Fortune acclaim and, according to TV Guide, both ‘Best’ and ‘Sexiest’ male actor on television) also titillates.
Elsewhere in this section, Outrageous Fortune alum Robyn Malcolm appears in The Hopes & Dreams of Gazza Snell (dir. Brendon Donovan), about a delinquently charming Kiwi dad with political ambitions that are a stark contrast to his humdrum life as a cleaning contractor. Brendon Donovan was one of the directors on the excellent Insider’s Guide television series, which represents a zenith in terms of artistic ambition and creative storytelling on New Zealand television, so I’m very much looking forward to his feature length debut. Set in Howick, also affectionately known as ‘Chow-ick’ by locals for its prominent Chinese community, the official synopsis for the film promises at least one Chinese face.
The other three films in this section are Russian Snark, playwright (Ladies Night), author, and screenwriter (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) Stephen Sinclair’s ‘bittersweet comedy about two refugee artists from Russia getting to grips with life in the South Pacific’ (BG); Gordonia (dir. Tom Reilly), a documentary around one man’s struggle against the local council’s desire to put a curb on his hoarding of wrecked cars housing refugees; and The Insatiable Moon (dir. Rosemary Riddell) which stars the ephemeral Sarah Wiseman in a social-realist drama about the struggle of those who live in halfway houses in Ponsonby.
Simon has a BA in English Literature/Film, Television and Media Studies, and an MA in Screen Production (Directing Drama) from the University of Auckland. He will be covering the 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival for The Big Idea.
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Simon ZhouSimon has a BA in English Literature/Film, Television and Media Studies, and an MA in Screen Production (Directing Drama) from the University of Auckland. He writes and directs his own short films, has directed a full-length play, ‘The Bone Feeder’ (written by Renee Liang) and is currently working on a collection of short stories about what it means to be an orphan of the Chinese diaspora.
He will be covering the 2010 New Zealand International Film Festival for The Big Idea.
