NZIFF 2023 Q&A - Tiki Taane in session with CSO

Tell us about your film -where did the idea come from?

My film is of a live performance I did with CSO at the fully refurbished Christchurch Town Hall in May 2021. Initially my plan was to just make videos of each song and chuck them up onto my YouTube channel, but after completing the 8 videos and adding in some BTS footage, I realised this thing could actually be made into a documentary feature film.

When did you begin shooting and did it all go according to plan?

We shot the film over 2 days back in May 2021 and managed to capture some really special moments. My co-producer Mark Russell did an incredible job filming everything with on about 22 cameras and then spending hundreds of hours editing it all into a dynamic experience.

What’s the best reaction you’ve had to your film?

So far it’s won 10 international film awards and has been Officially Selected at another 12 film festivals which has totally blown my mind. I had no idea on how this would play out so I’m feeling extremely grateful and proud of the recognition.

The reason I carried on with this film when it got tough is.....

I just really wanted to learn and absorb as much of the process as I could, even the most challenging parts of learning how to use Final Cut Pro to edit in. I’m coming up to 30 years of being in the music industry, so this film has been a new and exciting adventure.

The one moment that will resonate with an audience is.......

So far the feedback has been the orchestral version of Always On My Mind, which was extremely vulnerable and challenging for me to sing that song like I did with no acoustic guitar.

The hardest thing I had to cut from this film is........

That would be most of the BTS (behind the scenes) footage I tried to add, which I really liked but knew the audience would’ve found it boring. But I can throw all that stuff up onto my website later on for those who want to see some extra content.

The thing I want people to take from this film is ......

A feeling of actually being right there at the concert, as if you’re in the audience soaking up the incredible energy that was bouncing around that huge room. And especially for the independent musicians out there, I hope they can feel inspired and see that doing something of this scale is possible and can be achieved.

The one film I want to see most at NZIFF is.......

Little Richard : I Am Everything