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NZ film director in Palmerston North for special Q&A screening this Thursday

Wednesday 22 June 2011, 2:21PM

By Parish Pump Publicity

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PALMERSTON NORTH

This Thursday (23 June), the writer-director of critically acclaimed New Zealand feature Russian Snark will take part in a special question & answer session at Palmerston North’s Cinema Gold after the film’s 5.45pm screening.

The Dominion Post called Russian Snark -- which stars Palmerston North-born Stephanie Tauevihi (Shortland Street) -- “a wee gem” and awarded it four stars, as did the Sunday Star Times, which described it as “a touching, beautifully drawn Kiwi film” and “well worth hunting out”, while the NZ Herald gave it three-and-a-half stars. The NZ Listener, meanwhile, has praised its humour and “visual beauty”, calling it “near-poetic” and declaring it “the year’s most tasteful depiction of nudity”.

Prior to writing and directing Russian Snark, Stephen Sinclair was already a successful screenwriter, having written the scripts for The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, Meet the Feebles and Braindead with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.

He’s also a celebrated playwright – as well as writing such plays as The Bach and The Bellbird, he's the co-creator of international stage hit Ladies Night with Anthony McCarten.

Russian Snark represents Sinclair’s feature film directorial debut. He describes the film as “an eccentric comedy-drama-art movie” about a Russian filmmaker struggling to further his career in NZ and the pressure this puts on his marriage and mental health.

A central theme of the movie is whether it’s better to be a great artist or a good man, something Sinclair laughingly admits has great personal relevance for him.

“Filmmaking is not a family-friendly profession,” he says, “and the conflict between work and private life was certainly an issue during the making of Russian Snark. Though my wife is still talking to me – so at least the outcome wasn’t disastrous!”

Local screening times: http://pn.cinemagold.co.nz/movies/4940.php#
Trailer: http://www.flicks.co.nz/movie/russian-snark/
Official website: www.russiansnark.com
Media requests, including interview, high resolution photos: nof.grant@gmail.com