Filmmaker Gregory King’s UFO Wins in Toronto

New Zealand-born director Gregory King has won Best Short Drama for his 2014 film UFO at this year’s imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival held in Toronto.

King said from Berlin, where he lives, that the award was a “great surprise”.

In 2015, the film also won the Special Jury Prize at New Zealand festival Show Me Shorts. Judges described this tale of an alien trying to escape its human family as “exceptionally bold and brave”.

King’s first feature was dysfunctional family story Christmas (2003).

Filmed in the house where he grew up, King’s intention was to look at a group of people without judging or “assuming the arrogant stance” of understanding their behaviour. The feature went on to win four New Zealand film awards for digital films – including best feature and screenplay, and best acting (for Darien Takle).

King, 49, has also worked as a script consultant for filmmakers from New Zealand, Denmark and the United States.

Original article by CBC News, October 24, 2016.