Curious director Darryl Ward opens this year’s Sydney Film Festival and Taikia Waititi closes it

Last week, Curious director Darryl Ward helped to kick off the 2014 Sydney Film Festival with the premiere of 20,000 Days on Earth – a film about Nick Cave in which Ward was a DOP.

This weekend, a film by Curious director Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement called What We Do in the Shadows will premiere on Sydney Film Festival’s Closing Night (Sunday 15th June).

Says Peter Grasse, Curious EP: “Having two Curious commercial directors involved in opening and closing this year’s Sydney Film Festival is pretty remarkable. It’s what sets us apart at Curious – we are serious about filmmaking, and our most awarded commercial directors are also respected filmmakers.”

Ward is the Curious director behind two Cannes Grand Prix Lions who has worked with Pharrell Williams for Smirnoff, Iggy Pop for Orcon, and now Nick Cave for 20,000 Days on Earth.

Waititi has won countless awards this year alone for ‘Blazed’, created with Clemenger BBDO in Wellington for NZ Transport Agency. He’s also the director behind Carlton Dry’s much loved ‘Hello Beer’ campaign, the musical Pot Noodle campaign from Mother London, and New Zealand’s highest grossing film, Boy.

20,000 Days on Earth screened to a packed theatre at Sydney Film Festival on 4th June following its premiere at Sundance. It’s a fictitious exploration of 24 hours in the life of Nick Cave with frank insights into the artistic process.

What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary about a group of vampire flatmates in New Zealand based loosely on a short film that Waititi and Clement made in 2005.

Tickets to this Sunday’s premiere are available via www.sff.org.au.