A still from the Kim Dotcom movie. Photo: Nigel Marple.
A still from the Kim Dotcom movie. Photo: Nigel Marple.

AucklandJuly 26, 2017

Bigger than Ben Hur! Introducing Kim Dotcom, the movie

Guest Post
A still from the Kim Dotcom movie. Photo: Nigel Marple.
A still from the Kim Dotcom movie. Photo: Nigel Marple.

Director Annie Goldson introduces her Dotcom documentary and the one she calls its antithesis; and Julian Boshier talks about working with Wellington band Head Like a Hole for 15 years. Welcome to part five of our Film Festival filmmaker’s choice series.

Kim Dotcom director Annie Goldson recommends Waru

I’m really keen to see Waru, possibly because it’s the antithesis of my own film Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web.

Waru follows the lives of eight women all connected by the death of a Māori child at the hand of his caregiver, through eight self-contained vignettes. Each vignette follows a lead character, who, in line with instructions from the producers, is living in “the same moment in real time, and shot in a single take”. Each is directed by a different Māori woman director. The makers did a knock-out session at the Big Screen Symposium last year so I knew about its development.

Waru attracts me for a number of reasons. First, it’s another of the “only in Aotearoa/New Zealand” films that will be genuinely culturally unique. It sounds formally elegant, innovative and full of risk-taking, as the filmmakers explain in a great podcast recorded at BSS. And it’s made exclusively made by Māori women, who are, of course, majorly underrepresented in the industry at large.

Waru  (dir. Briar Grace-Smith, Casey Kaa, Ainsley Gardiner, Katie Wolfe, Chelsea Cohen, Renae Maihi, Paula Jones)

Other things also strike me. Waru engages with a heart-breaking issue of profound importance, one our country seems incapable of addressing or even understanding. And it’s a collaborative effort that works against the usual ego-driven necessities of the film business, be it studio or independent. Collaboration is not always easy but it can be a relief.

Speaking of ego-driven necessities, I hope you won’t mind that I take this opportunity to promote our own film. It’s been a fascinating and nail-biting journey. Perhaps, despite its differences, it does share some things with Waru — a riskiness, at least. Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web is part biography and part exploration of a series of issues that frame the infamous tech entrepreneur’s story. They go to the heart of our digital age: the struggles over how we consume entertainment and information; surveillance and privacy; and sovereignty.

I sometimes imagine the film being watched by many unidentified pairs of eyes, beaming and blinking through the bushes in a cartoon night: Dotcom himself, multiple figures in the New Zealand government, the US government, the FBI, the Five Eyes spying alliance, the Department of Justice, the Motion Picture Association of America, Anonymous and a brigade of tweeters ready to troll, etc.

I managed to access some brilliant commentators from around the world, including Glenn Greenwald, Jimmy Wales, Larry Lessig, Moby and Gabriella Coleman. These thinkers were so fascinating and I travelled far to interview them. My interviews were very long. When the excellent (and patient) editor Simon Coldrick and I began to knit the film together, we not only had to wrangle hours of in-depth and complex interviews, but also weeks of court footage and hundreds of hours of archive. And finally, at the last moment, a six-hour interview with Kim Dotcom himself which I was never sure I would get.

Giant handcuffs or a miniature Kim Dotcom?  (From Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web, dir. Annie Goldson)

Added to this, a deluge from his extraordinary archive, which swung from jagged hand-held intimate home movies to super high-end footage, shot by three Red cameras suspended from helicopters circling superyachts. Crafting the central through-line of this crazy quilt of a film took time, effort and massive persistence, particularly because I chose not to use a narration or place myself in the film.

With so much passion, opinion and interest at stake, the “independent” in “independent filmmaker” became critical. Perhaps in the end you make a film that truly pleases no one. When the film premiered at SXSW in Austin, Texas, I was relieved audiences and reviewers seemed to understand. Ars Technica, an edgy and insightful tech magazine, said “Goldson has produced that rare thing: a documentary about a controversial Web personality that is balanced and informative”, while according to Rolling Stone: “Whether you think he is a hero or heel, you’re bound to leave the film with your preconceptions shattered.”

For any filmmaker, that’s praise indeed.

Kim Dotcom:  July 29, 31; August 6.
Waru: August 2, 6.

Christopher Rainey and Christine’a Rainey in Quest. (dir. Jonathan Olshefski)

Swagger of Thieves filmmaker Julian Boshier recommends Quest

Quest is the ultimate documentary – intimate,  bleak,  affecting but ultimately positive. It’s a slice of life that my middle-class white ass will never experience, a study of an African American family living on the rough side of Philadelphia North.

The Rainey family live under the bright hope of the Obama administration, not that Obama policies have improved anything much for them. And even though Trump is on the campaign trail, the Raineys are numb to his evangelical TV message. On the verge of poverty, living in substandard housing and struggling with low pay, they’re captured in their rawest form, downtrodden, not least because of the colour of their skin, but striving to maintain some sense of dignity and generosity. Despite the hardship they’re engaged with and committed to their community.

As if the story isn’t already full of struggle, it intensifies as ill-health unfolds and a major event involving a child suddenly heightens the tension and hopelessness. When I saw it, there were gasps from the audience during this section.

Quest feels like it was made by one person and his camera, which lends to a very intimate and close-proximity telling of the story. That one person is Jonathan Olshefski who, to my eye, with his touch, restraint and empathy, has produced a masterpiece. Layered with powerful beats, affecting lyrics and immense atmosphere, Quest could be the best documentary I’ve ever seen.

As for my own film, Swagger of Thieves, it’s the story of the band Head Like a Hole and it’s my first attempt at documentary.

Head Like a Hole in Swagger of Thieves (dir. Julian Boshier)

Filming took place over approximately 15 years in a very haphazard nature, so you see the ageing of the characters and the maturity that comes to them (or not). All past and present band members appear in the film, and the long-term nature of the project gives it a character that not many other documentaries possess.

I wasn’t interested in following a formula for this film, but wanted a unique and fresh approach. From the outset, I insisted it was going to be a warts-and-all film and there would be no censoring or editorial control by the band. Some people may find portions of it quite confronting, but it’s real and it’s what happened. What occurred or was presented to me by the band is what I have presented in this film.

This band is full of characters. Booga Beazley has a sparkle in his eye, he’s funny and natural, often incredibly open, and he tells it like it is. Nigel Regan wanders around looking like a haggard Keith Richards. He can be just as open, when the mood takes him. Between these two characters and the ongoing pathology of their personal demons and uneasy marriage in music, an undeniable positivity and Kiwi battler mentality shines through – sometimes.

My aim was to make a film with heart and to have a strong complex narrative and a healthy dose of grunty music. It’s a no-budget production and I hope it’ll resonate with fans and non-fans alike.

More Reading

    Quest: July 28; August 5, 6.
    Swagger of Thieves: August 3.

    For bookings and more on the festival, visit the official site. Lots of trailers are here. And don’t miss The Spinoff’s top ten festival film picks, plus other filmmaker recommendations here, here, here and here.

    The Spinoff Auckland is sponsored by Heart of the City, the business association dedicated to the growth of downtown Auckland as a vibrant centre for entertainment, retail, hospitality and business.

    Keep going!
    Paris Opera
    Paris Opera

    AucklandJuly 25, 2017

    From sublime to satirical: filmmaker picks in the film festival, part 4

    Guest Post
    Paris Opera
    Paris Opera

    Who doesn’t like a bracingly funny bit of satirical social politics? Who doesn’t admire an arts troupe that astounds its audience show after show? With the Film Festival upon us we asked filmmakers to choose a favourite movie from the lineup and also tell us about their own films in the festival. Here’s the fourth instalment of the series, by Catherine Bisley and Shirley Horrocks.

    Catherine Bisley, director of Untitled Groping Revenge Fairytale, recommends The Killing of a Sacred Deer

    I’ve been a fan of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos since I saw his brutal and inventive social satire Dogtooth. The Lobster, his barbed parable on society’s obsession with being in a relationship, was also hilarious and disturbing. His new film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, comes to us fresh from being booed at Cannes and I hope it lives up to my expectation of an elegantly executed pitch-black comedy. It’s been billed as a modern take on ancient Greek tragedy, which is the messiest and cruelest of tragic forms (Oedipus, Antigone), so brace yourself.

    Another deer-related film in the programme intrigues me. On Body and Soul has a strangely beautiful premise: a pair of lonesome co-workers at an abattoir discover they share the same dream, in which they wander snowy woods together, as romantically involved deer. Director Ildikó Enyedi won Berlin’s Golden Bear for this one.

    Untitled Groping Revenge Fairytale

    My short film Untitled Groping Revenge Fairytale also blends the fantastical and the everyday. The idea for the film, which our tiny crew shot on the inky black streets and in the quiet green forests of the Central Plateau, struck me as I was running my dog along a dull stretch of pavement by Wellington airport. A certain American ass had been caught on a hot mic saying he considered women’s bodies to be an all-you-can-grab buffet. Fuelled by some amateur statistical analysis of self-gathered Saturday Night Data, I found myself preoccupied by the absurd—yet seemingly ever-present—feeling that somehow my body was not fully my own.

    I wanted to say fuck that. And I wanted to have a good time doing it. In taking something sadly ordinary and making it strange, I hope to give it impact. The premise also gave me an opportunity to cast my very good-looking dog, Nora, and an albino guinea pig called Goodtime Bob.

    Untitled Groping Revenge Fairytale screens in New Zealand’s Best, a programme of short films: July 29 (all dates are for Auckland screenings; other centres follow).
    The Killing of a Sacred Deer:     August 1, 3.
    On Body and Soul: August 2, 3.

    Free Theatre director Shirley Horrocks recommends The Paris Opera

    I’m looking forward to The Paris Opera, Jean-Stephane Bron’s frank, behind-the-scenes chronicle of a famous musical institution. It’s partly because my own festival film this year, Free Theatre: The 37-Year Experiment, is about the history of a unique Christchurch group which also combines theatre and music. Of course, there’s a world of difference between a multi-million-dollar, state-supported company in France and a Kiwi group working on a shoe-string, but the process of making art, with a colourful cast of characters, is always fascinating and dramatic.

    When Aucklanders asked what I was working on this year, and I said, “A documentary about Free Theatre,” their usual reply was “What? Who are they?” I’m used to that sort of response because I make documentaries about people in the arts who deserve to be much better known. I named my last documentary, Tom Who? because the painter Tom Kreisler had become largely forgotten outside of New Plymouth. I’m delighted that since the release of the film there have been three exhibitions of his work – he’s back on the radar.

    We are such an insular country. Free Theatre is known in Christchurch, but though they are arguably the most colourful and controversial theatre company in New Zealand – a hidden treasure which has been creating extraordinary productions for 37 years – they are still a case of “who?” for many Aucklanders and Wellingtonians.

    This is my 10th feature documentary to screen at the NZ International Film Festival so it’s a personal milestone. One of the effects of taking fabulous-but-less-well-known artists as my subjects is that mainstream television is no longer interested. I started making documentaries about the arts over 30 years ago, and for the first two decades I was commissioned to make them for television. Then television decided in its wisdom that all it wanted was reality programmes, cooking competitions and celebrities. That meant NZ On Air was not able to fund my documentaries, so the task of raising the budget became the biggest challenge for me.

    Free Theatre: The 37-Year Experiment

    The project with Free Theatre started seven years ago when I saw their production Distraction Camp (inspired by Jean Genet’s play The Balcony). I was amazed by the richness: it was very physical and combined music, colour and startling images. It was the most intense drama I’d seen for a long time and I was even more surprised to learn how long the company had been creating productions like this.

    I filmed them whenever I could over the next seven years, and finally was able to get a Creative NZ Quick Response Grant and a NZ Film Commission Finishing Grant which enabled me to complete the film for this year’s festival. I know I’m not the only local filmmaker who faces problems like this and I hope festival audiences realise how many New Zealand films are labours of love. If we can just get them made, there’s an enthusiastic audience, and those films have permanent value as a record of our country.

    One reason I related so strongly to Free Theatre is that their history has run parallel to my own film career. There’s no cruisy, laid-back lifestyle for anyone who puts creative priorities ahead of commercial ones. Free Theatre has survived censure, court cases, money problems and an earthquake that wrecked their venue. Such pressures have only made them more imaginative and more determined to realise their vision. They show that working outside the mainstream can be hugely satisfying. The film is not just about Christchurch but relates Free Theatre’s activities to the wider history of experiment in the arts in New Zealand.

    Free Theatre has always taken an unusually wide-ranging approach to performance, including not only actors but writers, directors, musicians and artists. People appearing in the film include Peter Falkenberg, George Parker, Emma Johnson, Stephanie Johnson, Murray Edmond, Stuart McKenzie, Bill Direen, Nick Frost, Peter Simpson, Gao Ping and Hamish McKeich, with historic footage of Alan Brunton.

    I was particularly impressed by Free Theatre’s highly original responses to the Christchurch earthquakes. The extraordinary Canterbury Tales involved a parade which brought thousands of people into the broken centre of Christchurch to celebrate, with my cameraman and me running through the streets to keep up. The performance of Earthquake in Chile had the unlikely starting point of an 18th century morality tale and led the audience through a series of strange but wonderful food events, which had people talking about the food and comradeship they had experienced after the earthquakes.

    The company was established by German-born director, Peter Falkenberg, who had taken part in various forms of “free theatre” during the wild European 60s. When he came to Christchurch, to “the end of the world”, he found that theatre here still followed a traditional “talking heads” approach. The conservative nature of the local scene made it an ideal location in which to create an alternative.

    The intense Falkenberg is still on hand to provide inspiration three decades later. He’s been likened to the legendary film director Rainer Fassbinder, for his ability to energise a creative group of actors. In the words of Stephanie Johnson, the novelist and playwright who was an early member of the group, it was “like a little bit of Berlin in Christchurch”. Over the years, as dozens of talented actors, writers, dancers, musicians and artists have passed through its ranks, Free Theatre has not lost its innovative edge and yet it has become deeply rooted in its New Zealand home.

    The Paris Opera: July 27; August 1, 3.
    Free Theatre: The 37-Year Experiment: July 26, 28.

    For bookings and more on the festival, visit the official site. Lots of trailers are here. And don’t miss The Spinoff’s top ten festival film picks, plus other filmmaker recommendations here, here and here.

    The Spinoff Auckland is sponsored by Heart of the City, the business association dedicated to the growth of downtown Auckland as a vibrant centre for entertainment, retail, hospitality and business.