NZIFF 2016 Opening Night Film is....

NZIFF 2016 Opening Night Film is....

WORLD PREMIERE OF POI E ANNOUNCED AS NZIFF OPENING NIGHT

NZIFF today announced the World Premiere screening of Poi E: The Story of Our Song at the Civic Theatre in Auckland on 14 July.

The film has also been confirmed for NZIFF Opening Night in Wellington on Friday 22 July, Christchurch on Thursday 28 July and Dunedin on Thursday 4 August.

Written and directed by Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion), Poi E takes the audience on a laugh-and-cry emotional journey as it lays out the hard-scrabble context from which the song was born and the relationships which shaped the song and propelled it forward.

“As irresistible as the song it celebrates, Kahi’s documentary explores the many tributaries that flowed into the mashup of pop music, traditional waiata and bop that first took New Zealand by storm in 1984. The film, told largely in Dalvanius’ own words, is brimful of music and frank and funny testimony from numerous participants in the song’s richly peopled history. Taking a lesson from the man himself, Kahi draws the next generation into the story, ably assisted by Taika Waititi, who provides Stan Walker, aged 25, with essential information about what life was like beforePoi E,” says NZIFF Director Bill Gosden.

Tearepa Kahi’s career includes the 2013 NZ box office success Mt. Zion starring Stan Walker. He is also a current member of the NZ Film Festival Trust board.

“After viewing this wonderfully entertaining film for the first time it was incredibly hard to continue through the correct channels and not phone Tearepa directly to tell him how impressed I was. No one who sees this film is going to believe any strings were pulled to give it pride of place on our 2016 programme. The staff and trustees of NZIFF congratulate fellow trustee Tearepa Kahi on his awesome film.” says Gosden.

Read more about Poi E at:

http://www.nziff.co.nz/2016/film/poi-e/