East Coast boy in Utah

Director Taika Waititi’s film Boy, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, “marks a step up in [Waititi’s] maturity” and “elaborates on a style that primarily belongs to his own unique universe, according to IndieWire reviewer Eric Kohn. Waititi, whose first feature, Eagle Versus Shark, premiered at Sundance in 2005, wrote and directed Boy, which was shot in his childhood home town of Waihau Bay on the East Coast. Kohn continues: “He expands on the deadpan characterizations of Eagle vs Shark — which encouraged comparisons to — by applying greater emotional resonance to broad comedy. The result is alternately zany, sentimental, and remarkably insightful about the quirks of a child’s mind. Ultimately, Boy succeeds as both an ode to childhood and a lament about growing up.” Waititi travelled as a guest of the festival to Utah for the premiere, and said before leaving that he had a long connection with the festival. “To take this sunny East Coast New Zealand film to play in the snowy mountains of Park City, Utah, is pretty awesome,” Waititi said. The film will be released in New Zealand early this year. And if you have “a hard time with authority” join Waititi’s gang of The Crazy Horses — an idea stemming from Boy — go to www.crazyhorses.co.nz.