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News
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Thursday
03 April 2008 It's pretty amazing all the things that have happened with this otherwise unseen niche documentary. The film has been on the large screen, the small screen and is still available in shops, DVD sales just ticking away quietly. I've had my eyes opened to the prejudices and sadness still so prevalent out there. I'm wiser for it, but hopeful still. I've met and corresponded with the in-love, the dignified, the deserving and the lucky, and felt heartened and honoured that my neurotic little film could illicit such warm responses. No yin without yang, I'm told, it all evens out in the end. I'm moving on, as mentioned, to my first love - writing and/or directing dramatic film. There will be no more personal documentaries, no sequels - just maybe (and that's a big maybe) an adaptation which will hopefully be acted out by impossibly beautiful people with many juicy embellishments, as is customary for the silver screen. Meanwhile, you can check out the completely fictional short film I made recently here. Hopefully there'll be more where that came from :) Thanks for visiting. Tuesday
16 October 2007 As can be expected for a niche New Zealand documentary, the DVD can still be found at the most excellent and discerning stores - but it is no longer extra cheap at Borders. Sorry! It should be coming to JB HiFi which prides itself on the cheapest prices, so if you want a copy, just ask them. It is also off the inflight system at Air New Zealand - and apparently hasn't been for the last 6 months! So sorry about that erroneous information. Monday
04 June 2007 I'm not sure whether to be depressed, or inflated with the self-important notion that I singlehandedly threaten the future of the white race. And here I was, thinking I made a self-indulgent film about love. Wednesday
21 March 2007 Other things around the film that might be of interest: Saturday
20 January 2007 Things to look out for - I'm going to try and put up scans of recent articles and stuff - the internet can be so transient sometimes, links going away and coming back, so I'll post em here myself FOREVER... I also took away the link for the Salient review because it had lapsed, and then just saw it was back, in another location, so I need to link it back, and find other wayward reviews that might have skived off elsewhere. anyway, this news is pretty scintillating stuff, as you can probably tell. Did I mention that I also have a really scintillating personal blog? So far it's mostly dumb observations and bitching and moaning, but hey - you can probably reduce most blogs to that anyway. Monday
08 January 2007 I only really write in here when I do some upgrading, so it should be no surprise to you when I write something like: hello! I've just been doing some upgrading! Most of it's just upkeeping and stuff, sweeping out the old reviews and articles whose links no longer work, putting new ones in (or should I say, the new one), putting up a few new feedbacks from people, you know the drill. For what I really think you can still go to my personal blog (you can find it here), but I have to warn you, when I say 'musings', I actually mean 'ramblings'. Sunday
05 November 2006 Also, I have started a personal blog at http://bananafilm.blogspot.com/. Check out all my inconsequential ramblings! Friday
13 October 2006 Banana in a Nutshell in it's original form will be available on AirNZ's inflight entertainment system from Xmas 2006! It will be featured in their inflight amagazine in conjunction with their wonderful direct-to-Shanghai flights! Woot! (But if you want to see the epilogue, you can still only see it on DVD...) The film's almost 1 1/2 year theatrical run has one more stop to its journey- the Gecko Theatre in Motueka! If you're around, see it on the big screen for the next couple weeks! And one thing I am still working on, but is not quite confirmed: You might look out for BiaN on shop shelves just in time for that Xmas shopping... but I will keep you posted... Plus the website is due for a wee change - it's in the works... more soon! Friday
08 September 2006 Also, for those wonderful people who have been eager enough to get pre-sale copies of BiaN, I'm also going to start the rumour that there may be hidden Easter Eggs on the DVD. Play with your arrows is all I'm going to say... Saturday
12 August 2006 I went to do pre-sales of the Banana DVD today at the 'Going Bananas' NZ Chinese Association Conference in Auckland today, and events conspired to culminate in me meeting face to face with the person I had previously called 'crazy lady', but whom I discovered was no lady. My total, total bad. He's a NZ Chinese guy, and I talked to him. After a rather fraught talk (his hands were shaking, my heart was pounding), of his own volition he actually apologised for making those abusive comments about Stephen, and we parted ways amicably enough- of course agreeing to disagree. The disagreement? Well, he believes I am duty bound to represent the Chinese minority in New Zealand in a postive light. Even though he hasn't apparently seen the film, he thinks that I am somehow maligning the whole Chinese community by publicising my film. Obviously I disagree- the film was meant as nothing more than the ramblings of one person, and I say as much by the end of the film- mine is one of many voices, and I for one would like to hear other voices. He also didn't know why I cared what he thought... well, I don't know either, but I do, or I did, so there's nothing much I can do there. I told him I'd try to get a thicker skin - I think he expected that of all artists, which was what he called me. I didn't mind that. The thing is, I think email has allowed both of us, and Stephen, to be a little more extreme in our reactions than we would have if we had been face to face in a time and place as open as the Banana conference today. We called each other names, we said some rather rude things to each other, and I think email allowed us all to be dicks. I, and others, had assumed the correspondant was a woman- we were wrong, and managed to insult him in the process. If there had been more time, and it wasn't so damn on-the-fly and awkward, I would have liked to have learned about the events that brought this man to such angry place. Anyway, in the spirit of what happened today, I'm going to stop the name-calling and try and be a little more civil about all this. Obviously I don't agree with what this man said, and what he said still hurts. However, this guy is a human being, and he is entitled to his opinion, no matter how unpleasant it might seem to me. The correspondance can still be found in the 'Negative' feedback section. I believe this rather unpleasant chapter has come to some sort of resolution. Thanks to my sister Renee for sticking up for me in front of the conference audience, and being more eloquent and measured than I could ever have been in that situation. Thanks also to her for encouraging me to make my peace (of sorts) with this guy... Finally - what an amazing conference! No wonder it's going to be even bigger and better next year! Tuesday
01 August 2006 We've packed every last MB of the DVD with extras, plus of course the much awaited epilogue.. hope you like it, we worked hard on it in the hope that it would please! Wednesday
24 May 2006 The film is also showing at theatres in Waiheke and Hamilton very soon.. will have details up in the near future. Sunday
23 April 2006 There will also be a new work around the film- a longer cut of some of the more interesting interviews gathered during the making of the film called 'Banana: UnCut'- showing with the Hidden China exhibition at Te Tuhi Gallery in Pakuranga. This ol' film just keeps hangin' around, dunnit? And of course, work on the DVD chugs along. I've also added to the feedback section of the site, most notably an unpleasant and almost unbelievable correspondance with a lady who really didn't like the film. Her reason? Well, insanity as far as I can tell- either that, or some guy worked her over something bad. I'd be lying if I said her thinly veiled hate emails hadn't affected me, it's always going to be hard hearing people abusing you and the ones you love without any apparent reason. But more than that it makes me really sad because, unless this is an elaborate weird joke, people with her hate-mongering world view actually exist. Big, big bummer. Thursday
30 March 2006 Am also working hard on the DVD which has, lamentably, been pushed back again, but like I said, I hope it'll be worth the wait! Wednesday
22 March 2006 It is the anniversary of my being on this earth today so I'll stop being a nerd updating the site, and come back later... Friday
10 March 2006 And for Aucklanders who may have missed out on the 2-week Rialto season, there may yet be a chance to see the film on the big screen! I'm not saying anything definite yet, but I'll keep y'all posted... Monday
06 March 2006 Anyway, BiaN is having a very solid run at the Rialto.. only 2 more days of the season to go! I've just decided to work a little more on the website, so there will be a new feedback section, and hopefully the links will be more up to date.. am working on it! Must also get cracking on these DVD extras if I've to have something to show in May, I'll keep you posted... Oh, and I think I'm allowed to announce: there is a fictional feature adaptation of BiaN just starting development now. I'll be co-writing and directing the picture, if and when we get through the years of making the script as good as it can be! The film will be based on the events of the documentary, and no, I won't be acting in it... Pretty exciting I know, but it's knuckle down time. Sunday
27 November 2005 Monday
15 August 2005 |