Film director Taika Waititi's latest feature film, Boy, has been selected in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, held in Utah each January and widely regarded as the premiere US showcase for American and international independent film.
Boy was one of 14 films selected from 1022 worldwide submissions for Sundance's
World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
Inspired by Waititi's Oscar-nominated short Two Cars, One Night, Boy is a tale about heroes, magic and Michael Jackson. Written and directed by Waititi, the film was shot in his childhood home town of Waihau Bay in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
James Rolleston stars as 11-year-old Boy and Te Aho Eketone-Whitu as his younger brother Rocky.
Waititi plays their father Alamein, who is the subject of Boy's fantasies and whom he imagines as a deep sea diver, war hero, rugby legend and close relative of Michael Jackson.
In reality Alamein is an inept, wannabe gangster who has been in jail for robbery.
Waititi's short film Two Cars, One Night (2004) and debut feature Eagle vs Shark (2005) both premiered to acclaim at Sundance Film Festivals.
"It is very special to me that Boy has been selected to screen at Sundance," Waititi said.
"I have a long connection with the Sundance Institute and Festival and to take this sunny East Coast New Zealand film to play in the snowy mountains of Park City, Utah is pretty awesome."
- NZPA
