Coexistence Openair Films at Britomart
Auckland, 7 March 2006
Open-Air Cinema Ltd., Bluewater and Heart of Auckland City have teamed up for an exciting new project: outdoor movies at
the historic Britomart Precinct. The organisers took up the theme of co-existence and put a very interesting programme
together including the Oscar winner for the Best Film 'Crash' and nominees 'Munich' by Steven Spielberg as well as
'Joyeux Noel' for best foreign language film.
While thousands of Aucklanders and tourists enjoyed the grass surface covering the car park in the historic Britomart
Precinct during February, Openair Cinema director Urs Bauer took the opportunity to setup a temporary movie theatre
creating a festival of recent 'co-existence' type films. "The films we've chosen all cover some different aspects of
living together in a very diverse universe. I think it's a great way of seeing movies, which will definitely touch the
spectators' hearts under the open sky."
The ten night extravaganza starts this Friday with 'Mr. Batignole', a French Drama by Jérard Jugnot which takes up the
refuge-story of two Jewish families during 2nd world war, followed by the heart-warming story 'The Land has Eyes' on
Saturday. This first Fijian feature film is built around the story of a young woman attempting to escape the stifling
conformity of island culture. Inspired by the myth of a Warrior Woman, she recovers from the death of her father and
fights for justice and freedom.
On Sunday night the festival takes up a completely different issue about life: 'The Sea Inside' is a
Spanish-French-Italian co-production about the real-life story of Ramon Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign in
favour of euthanasia and his right to die.
'In this World' (R13) on Monday, shows the pressure and survival of Afghan refugees, who live in a camp in Peshawar and
try to escape to Great Britain with the help of people smugglers. This critical film won the Bafta Award for the best
foreign language film and Director Michael Winterbottom won a Golden Berlin Bear for best director in 2004.
Oscar-hit 'Crash' (R16) will be screened on Tuesday night: several characters of different racial backgrounds collide in
one incident. The different stereotypes society has created for those backgrounds affect their judgment, beliefs and
actions.
The French-German-English co-production 'Joyeux Noel', nominated for the best foreign language film at the Oscars,
screens on Wednesday. It is a profoundly touching and uplifting movie set in World War I when the Germans, French and
Scottish try to make peace by burying their dean and playing football on Christmas Eve.
'Turtles Can Fly' (Thursday, 17 March) is the third feature film from internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Bahman
Ghobadi. Written, directed and produced by Ghobadi, the film, set near the Iraqi-Turkish border on the eve of an
American invasion, features a cast of local non-actor children gauging and awaiting their fate.
On Friday the modern 'Romeo and Juliet' story by acclaimed British Director Ken Loach adds some romantic drama to the
programme: sparks fly in Glasgow's south side when a young Asian man enters into a relationship with a Caucasian
teacher.
The highly controversial, but acclaimed new film by Steven Spielberg, 'Munich' (R16) screens on Saturday. During the
1972 Olympic Games in Munich eleven Israeli athletes were taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group
known as Black September. In retaliation the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and
execute those responsible for the attack. A thrilling drama not for the faint hearted.
The Festival closes on Sunday with Tolga Orneks excellent war-documentary 'Gallipoli'. The young Turkish director
produced an unbiased film about the incidents at Gallipoli: the only enemy in these events was the war itself. Sam Neill
and Jeremy Irons as narrators put a lot of heart and soul into the story.
The uncovered area is on a grass surface and limited to 750 people. Please bring your own deckchairs, rugs, beanbags etc
as only limited seating is available. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for Students & Senior Citizens and $7 for children under 12. Please be aware that the whole area is supervised (no children under the
age of 18 are allowed without accompanying parents or caregivers). The ticket office and gates open at 7pm, movie starts
at 8.30pm. Tickets may be purchased online (without booking fees) at: http://www.openair.co.nz or at the Princess Wharf
Visitor Centre of Tourism Auckland during the day.
Moviegoers can bring their own picnic and enjoy the sunset. Snacks, wine, beer, soft drinks and coffee are available for
purchase. No BYO Alcohol is allowed.
ENDS