World premiere at city festival
He has overcome yellow-eyed penguins invading the location, sea lions destroying the make up tent, and years of script development.
Now, Christchurch writer and director Nic Gorman’s debut feature will enjoy a homecoming world premiere at the New Zealand International Film Festival.
Psychological thriller Human Traces was shot over seven days on Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula and 18 days on the Otago coastline in late 2015. The world premiere will be held at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch on August 4.
The film is set on a subantarctic island where the arrival of a mysterious young stranger disrupts the world of a couple monitoring the local ecosystem.
Long Point, two hours south of Dunedin, and Haylocks Bay in Akaroa Harbour stood in for the Subantarctic island during the shoot. Gorman said production was often disrupted by visiting Otago wildlife.
‘‘We didn’t shy away from embracing nature, but it is pretty unpredictable, especially when you are dealing with large sea mammals,’’ he said.
‘‘We were constantly having to work around sea lions and yellow-eyed penguins. When a penguin came along we had to stop filming, drop to the ground and wait for it to pass.
‘‘We had a sea-lion wrangler. If one came along during the shoot he would jump down on the ground and bark at them and the sea lion would bark back at them. The dude was more alpha than the sea lion so he would back off.’’
A sea lion also pulled down their make-up tent during production.
‘‘They are a bit like puppies. That was a crazy day. It was a nightmare at the time, but you look back and it was amazing.’’
Gorman, who grew up in the Christchurch suburb of St Martins and was a member of Court Theatre improv troupe the Court Jester for eight years, wrote the first draft of the script over 12 weeks in 2013.
‘‘The inspiration started with a location. I was reading about the subantarctic islands. I think they are fascinating . . . They are this perfect little eco system because they have developed so far away from the mainland.
‘‘I was interested in how living in a place like that affects the characters.’’
Before shooting started, Gorman got together with some Christchurch friends and shot a rough version of the movie on a camcorder in a Halswell scout hut.
Gorman said producer Nadia Maxwell, production designer Martin Gorzeman, actor Vinnie Bennett and cinematographer John Chrisstoffels all came from Canterbury.
The film festival screens in Christchurch from August 3 to 20.