Luscious’ Marcus Hamill rescues the Royal bloodline with ‘Dog Save the Queen’ – script picked for Cook Islands social project ‘Film Raro’
Luscious International director Marcus Hamill, and co-writer Joel Russell’s script ‘Dog Save the Queen’ was one of 6 films selected from over 2000 entries to go into production as part of Film Raro – a social project to work with and teach Cook Islanders to tell their own visual stories.
Says Hamill: “We started shooting the morning after we landed in Rarotonga. None of the cast had ever been in front of a camera before. Our leads were Teio, a 10-year-old boy and his very cute, but not even house-trained island dog ‘Buster’, both we literally cast with the film camera in hand, and minutes later we started to shoot.”
As the story goes, back in ’72, when the Queen visited the Cook Islands, one of her Corgis got loose and busy with some of the local mutts. With the Royal Corgi bloodline facing certain extinction, the Queen is desperately seeking a descendent from that ’72 romp. 10-year-old Nuka’s world is turned upside down when his beloved dog ‘Cyclone’ is announced the winner of the ‘Million Dollar Corgi Quest’
‘Dog Save the Queen’ taps into some serious sociological issues, while still incorporating the laid-back island humour. Sadly, Cook Islanders are the most heavily displaced population in the world, from the need to leave their home and families 
and search for income overseas. Hamill says that to see the locals not only connect with the material, but take the story and make it their own, was the most inspiring part of the whole experience.
Says Hamill: “Even with torrential rain on the night of the premier screening, locals came in their droves. Close to five thousand islanders attended, that’s almost 50% of the nations population.”
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When can we see the film in NZ?