Taika Waititi and Curious Film get prestigious spot at the opening of Sundance Film Festival

Taika Waititi’s new film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, will premiere at the opening weekend of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in the prestigious Friday night slot at the Eccles Theatre.

Curious executive producer and managing partner Matt Noonan, (Turbo Kid, Born to Dance and Night Shift), is a producer on the film, along with Carthew Neal, Leanne Saunders, and Waititi.

Curious director, Waititi won a 2015 Cannes Gold Lion, a D&AD Pencil and Best Ads’ Best Interactive for the NZTA Snapchat campaign, Tinnyvision. His critically acclaimed film, What We Do in the Shadows, won thirteen international film awards plus another eight nominations and achieved cinema release in both Australia and the US.

Curious editor and post producer Luke Haigh, (Turbo Kid and The Rocket), is one of the editors, whilst the DOP Lachlan Milne and production designer Neville Stevenson also worked on the film. Noonan worked closely with Waititi to develop and shoot the major chase scene.

Curious is production partner on Hunt for the Wilderpeople, in charge of editorial, picture and sound production. Academy award winning Weta Digital are also involved in the post.

Julian Dennison, the lead in Waititi’s NZTA short film and multi-award winning ad, Blazed, produced by Curious, plays the lead in Hunt For The Wilderpeople, alongside Hollywood actor and Peaky Blinders star Sam Neill.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is Waititi’s dramatisation of Barry Crump’s 1986 novel, Wild Pork and Watercress.

Says Waititi: “The book is really engaging and I recommend it to everyone. It’s so entertaining, quite beautifully written and profound, with an unmistakeably Kiwi style.”

For Waititi, the film marks a return to New Zealand’s classic style of filmmaking, in which humour has a pivotal role.

Says Waititi: “We want this to be a film for all ages, that families can go to. A film where there’s something for everyone. We want to spin a good yarn and have an adventure… start a resurgence of entertaining New Zealand films. Adventure films like Came a Hot Friday and Goodbye Pork Pie – films in which people are fighting against the system in a funny and touching way.”

Hunt For The Wilderpeople is due for release in early 2016.