NZIFF Q&A 2021 - Peter  Brook Bell - Mark Hunt: The Fight of his Life

How's your 2021 been?

Probably, like most people it’s a lot of adapting to a changing situation with Delta appearing. I’ve certainly felt thankful though, for friends, family and the little things in life, like coffee, online quiz night or a walk in the park. I do need a haircut. 

Give us the elevator pitch for your film in 10 words. 

Champion fighter must overcome his dark past to rise again 

The one moment of your film that stands out

Fight wise, I think Mark fighting Ray Sefo in Japan is one of the most incredible things anyone will ever see. I won’t give the game away for people who haven’t seen it.

The one moment of your film that you wish you could have changed

Geez, that’s hard – a longer interview with Dana White would have been good, but you take what you can get. It was only fast talking by the story producer Eugene that got him to even be interviewed.

The one moment of your film that you think audiences will connect to

That is tricky, depends on the person. The people who have watched it have noted the humour in it, which they weren’t necessarily expecting. There are some laugh out loud moments.

The one moment of production during a Covid world that saw you enraged by the pandemic

No. Most of the film was shot long before Covid arrived on the scene. Just a pick-up interview in Sydney to update Mark’s situation was needed.

What's next for you?

I’m trying to get a feature documentary up on a music label that is very close to my heart.

The one film from the 2021 New Zealand International Film Festival that everyone should see - apart from yours

I haven’t been through the whole programme. It’s been cancelled in Auckland, but I was looking forward to seeing Jan Oliver Lucks’ “There Is No I in Threesome” and Briar March’s “Mothers of Revolution.”