New Zealand Film Festival - 2010

It's on again, folks:  Hong Kong's Annual New Zealand Film Festival. Thought we'd be able to get tickets easily, but not so!  They went in a flash and because Keith lingered and "ummed and ahhed" over which ones he wanted to see, the only ones we're now getting to see are the ones other folks booked for us.  Totally missed out on "Show of Hands" which I wanted to see a lot.  Damn those indecisive Libras!

But the good news is that Keith, a fully-fledged Kiwi by birth and birthright,  is currently putting together a DVD collection of iconic New Zealand films so we will see this one eventually.

We saw "Untouchable Girls" this weekend. It's a documentary on The Topp Twins.  Let me see if I can get it for you.  Yayyy, go youtube:




Surprisingly excellent film.  Do see it too!

And there's something I want to say about The Land of the Long White Cloud.  I know we Fijians constantly make fun of them, calling them Macawas, a very rude Fijian name that refers to their rigidness, conservativeness and general lack of humour, however I do have to acknowledge that, for a winsy country with a tiny population, they really do punch above their weight.

It's not just their film-makers, but it's also their designers, their comedians, their actors, their bands, their writers.  In fact, well, it's just about every field and in all the arts, Kiwis appear to excel.

Scratch just about every famous Australian whatever and you often find a Kiwi: Russell Crowe, Sam Neill, Split Enz, Dragon, Collette Dinigan, etc, etc, etc.  And, yeah, yeah, can't forget Peter Jackson!

And they do it so effortlessly too.  Like, just look at Sir Edmund Hillary, right!  He's a bee-keeper who decides to climb Mt Everest.  Or Murray Ball, a sheep farmer who does a cartoon about his life called Footrot Flats that sells all over the world.  Or Bruno Lawrence, another sheep farmer who said, when an actor didn't turn up for a role, "I'll do it!" and completely aced in the film The Quiet Earth. Or John Clarke, who friends from all over the world keep sending me clips of political commentary stuff he's done because he's so astute, incisive and FUNNY.

Yup, I have to say this:  New Zealanders really do, despite everything, ROCK!!!