To celebrate the release of Taika Waititi's (pictured) award-winning film Boy (now in cinemas), SBS ONE is going back to where it all began, with screenings of the director's debut feature Eagle vs. Shark (2007) and award-winning shorts Two Cars, One Night (2003) and Tamu TÅ« (2005).
EAGLE VS SHARK SBS ONE 10:10pm Sat
First up is Eagle Vs Shark, an awkward love story in op-shop digs about a feeble fast-food worker, Lily (Loren Horsely) and a deadpan doofus, Jarrod (Jemaine Clement).
Their fractious affair begins after Lily crashes Jarrod's animal-themed dress up party, winning his heart with her eagle costume and hidden talents in the tent pole event of the evening, the 'Fight Man' video game championships.
Before you can say 'Finish Him', they're snug as a bug in bed, but Jarrod has more on his mind than puppy love. He must return to his hometown and exact his revenge on the bully that haunted his high school years.
Eagle vs Shark was Waititi's first stab at Kiki-Americana and it served him well, earning the Best Screenplay award at the U.S Comedy Arts Festival and the prize for Achievement in Directing back home at the New Zealand Film and TV Awards. Like the characters in Boy, the harsh truths inherent to oddballs is something Waititi has an affinity for, stating in an interview, “I really love all the comedy that comes from pain, the emotional and social pain of living day-to-day life.”
In the same year Eagle vs. Shark premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Waititi was chosen by Variety as one of Top 10 directors to watch. Also a writer, actor, painter and stand-up, Waititi once formed part of the comedy duo The Humourbeats with Clement, who appeared as Jerrod in the same year as his hit HBO show Flight of the Conchords became a worldwide hit. (Waititi also co-wrote two episodes of the first series, 'New Zealand Town' and 'Drive By').
TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT SOS, SBS ONE 11:45pm
Stick around after the main event and catch Two Cars, One Night, screening as part of a special New Zealand-themed Shorts on Screen.
The 12-min black-and-white film is set outside a New Zealand pub, where three kids patiently wait in cars for their parents to emerge. While one of the young boys battles the boredom by reading a book on the Native American war leader Crazy Horse, his older brother turns his attention to a young girl sitting in a car parked parallel. What starts confrontational soon turns sweet as the two tykes can't help but form a temporary bond. Many of Boy's character's and themes are based on those explored in Two Cars, One Night.
The film was an international festival hit, winning, among many others, the Panorama Short Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, as well as an Oscar nomination in 2004 for best live action short. He may not have won the gong, but he certainly stole the limelight.
TAMU TŪ SOS, SBS ONE
Waititi's follow-up short, Tamu TÅ« will also screen in the last slot of Shorts on Screen. The 17-minute film takes place in Italy during WWII, with the 28th (Maori) Battalion searching for safety within a block of demolished buildings, settling on a ruined home. The soldiers communicate in silence, using hand signals, as they wait for day to break. Impatience breeds monkey business, so the men mock and mug to pass the time, much to the chagrin of their commanding officer.
Tamu TÅ« was the first drama made on the 28th Battalion and in typical Waititi style, he wrote it “with the idea that I wanted to not work with kids; just get a bunch of guys together and have some fun.” Waititi combines believable banter with the haunting realities of his characters, in key with the filmmaker's thematic tendency to frame the games people play when they're waiting for something to happen. The film's spectacular look was achieved by production director Kayne Horsham (Lord of the Rings), who transformed the soon-to-be-demolished Wellington Hospital into a facsimile of the Italian architecture where the men fought.
Tamu TÅ« scored its fair share of awards, winning Jury Awards at the Palm Springs International ShortsFest, Berlin International Film Festival, as well as the Best Fiction Short Film at the 2005 Melbourne International Film Festival.
WANT MORE?
Watch an interview with Taika Waititi and Boy's James Rolleston here
Read the review of Boy here
Watch the trailer for Boy here
Search session times for Boy here
From midnight Saturday, you can catch up with both Two Cars, One Night and Tamu TÅ« here and here (valid 7 days).
