‘Wilderpeople’ stars at awards
The heartwarming tale of a Kiwi teen’s adventures in the bush has taken out seven Moas at this year’s New Zealand Film Awards.
Topping off a stellar year of box office success and critical acclaim, Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople won awards for Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Actor (Julian Dennison), Supporting Actor (Sam Neill), Supporting Actress (Rima Te Wiata) and Visual Effects.
The Rialto Channel NZ Film Awards (also known as Moas) were presented last night in a ceremony at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds.
Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle, who had earlier attended the Civic Theatre premiere of his film T2: Trainspotting, was the special guest presenter in a line-up that included Sam Neill, Zac Wallace and James Rolleston.
Neill was also there to present the Services to Cinema Award to old friend and collaborator Gaylene Preston for her outstanding contributions to New Zealand film.
Miriama McDowell was Best Actress for her role in The Great Maiden’s Blush, which also won the Best Self-Funded film.
For The Ground We Won, described as ‘‘a beautifully observed study of provincial rugby’’, Miriam Smith took home Best Documentary and Chris Pryor the Moa for Best Documentary Cinematography – the most contested category of this year’s awards.
David Stubbs won Best Documentary Director for Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses, while Madam Black, directed by Ivan Barge, won Best Short Film.
Boyle, who was guest of honour at the Civic last night, explained that the Trainspotting sequel was delayed so long because a planned second movie ten years ago had been ditched when he and his collaborators agreed good enough.
The 20-year anniversary of the iconic 1996 movie Trainspotting – which followed four Edinburgh heroin addicts as they tried to pull off a major drug deal – sparked the script wasn’t fresh talks and also a rapprochement between Boyle and the film’s star, Ewan McGregor, who had fallen out when Boyle preferred Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead in The Beach.
Boyle, who also directed Slumdog Millionaire, Shallow Grave and The Beach, said he and McGregor were again friends; McGregor is joined by original cast Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle in T2 Trainspotting.