Latest news with #RobSarkies
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Pike River movie to premiere at Sydney Film Festival
Twenty-nine men were killed in one of New Zealand's worst mining disasters. Photo: The feature film Pike River will premiere at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday, before its release in New Zealand later this year. The movie follows the families of the 29 men killed in one of the worst mining disasters in the country and their search for justice. Director Rob Sarkies said the crew worked closely with the families of the men who died in making the film, which was shot on location in Māwhera, Greymouth, Wellington and Auckland. Pike River features New Zealand actors Melanie Lynskey as Anna Osborne and Robyn Malcolm as Sonya Rockhouse. Osborne's husband, Milton, and Rockhouse's son, Ben, were among those killed in the mine explosion 15 years ago. Rockhouse has said the film had, in some way, helped with their healing. "Anna and I have found it to be an incredibly humbling experience to be involved in the film, with a crew of people who felt strongly about the injustices we suffered and wanted to tell our story." They are attending the film's premiere in Sydney together. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Pike River film starring Melanie Lynskey and Robyn Malcolm to premiere in Australia with families in attendance
Director Rob Sarkies confirmed Pike River families will be in attendance when Pike River premieres during the Sydney Film Festival's opening weekend, joining cast and crew to watch the film in Sydney's 2000-seat State Theatre. 'This is a huge honour that demonstrates the significance of the story in New Zealand and Australia,' Sarkies said. 'It feels particularly special that several Pike River families will be attending the Sydney premiere after years of working so closely with them to bring their story to the big screen.' Pike River depicts the true story of Anna Osborne (played by Melanie Lynskey) and Sonya Rockhouse (played by Robyn Malcolm), and their fight for justice alongside other Pike families following one of the worst mining disasters in Aotearoa's history. Sonya Rockhouse, mother of Pike River victim Ben Rockhouse, said having a film made about this experience has, in some part, helped Pike River families heal. 'Anna and I have found it to be an incredibly humbling experience to be involved in the film with a crew of people who felt strongly about the injustices we suffered, and wanted to tell our story. We feel extremely honoured to be invited to attend the world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival.' Rockhouse and Osborne were made Members of the Order of New Zealand in 2022 for their health and safety campaigning. Production of the feature film, written by Fiona Samuel, began in Māwhera, Greymouth, in late 2023. Scenes were also filmed in Auckland and Wellington. According to IMDB, the feature has a run time of two hours and 18 minutes. The film was made in association with the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air, Three, the New Zealand Screen Production Grant and Park Road Post Production.
Otago Daily Times
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Trump's film tariffs would be ‘devastating' for local industry
Rob Sarkies. Photo: supplied A Dunedin-born film-maker says it would be "absolutely devastating" to the country's film industry if Donald Trump gets his way. The United States President announced in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday he was authorising the Department of Commerce and the country's trade representative to "immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands". "We want movies made in America, again!" Shares in some US streaming and production companies, including Netflix, fell following the announcement, but the White House later said "no final decisions" on foreign film tariffs had been made. Dunedin-born film-maker Rob Sarkies - director of Scarfies, Out of the Blue and the upcoming drama based on the 2010 tragedy Pike River - said yesterday he was "very concerned" by Mr Trump's comments. "If it came in as it's been proposed, not that the detail is particularly clear, but as I understand it, it would be absolutely devastating for New Zealand and specifically the New Zealand film industry. "We're talking millions and millions of dollars simply wouldn't come here and a large number of people would be out of work. "I think companies like Weta, for example, would probably be forced to relocate to survive." It would "simply be unaffordable" for such companies doing high-end work for big Hollywood productions to get hired unless they relocated aspects of their business to the United States - which he believed was exactly what Mr Trump wanted. The announcement should be taken seriously and he expected the New Zealand film industry and the government in the interim to lobby against such a policy, but believed Hollywood was likely to push back and the announcement could be back-tracked. Areas of Otago recently played host to Hollywood actors and crews filming the seven-episode Netflix adaptation of John Steinbeck's 1952 novel East of Eden. While the source material is mainly set in the Salinas Valley, California, it appeared to have been "clearly more cost effective" to use the Otago landscape as a stand-in, Mr Sarkies said. Because film production in Otago was "more sporadic" than in Auckland and Wellington, such a tariff would have relatively less of an effect among regional industries. "The circus won't come to town as often and that will have an effect, but it won't be as devastating as it will be in the major centres."
Otago Daily Times
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Foreign film tariffs ‘absolutely devastating' for industry
Rob Sarkies. Photo: supplied A Dunedin-born film-maker says it would be ''absolutely devastating'' to the country's film industry if Donald Trump gets his way. The United States President announced in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday he was authorising the Department of Commerce and the country's trade representative to ''immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands''. ''We want movies made in America, again!'' Shares in some US streaming and production companies, including Netflix, fell following the announcement, but the White House later said ''no final decisions'' on foreign film tariffs had been made. Dunedin-born film-maker Rob Sarkies - director of Scarfies, Out of the Blue and the upcoming drama based on the 2010 tragedy Pike River - said yesterday he was ''very concerned'' by Mr Trump's comments. ''If it came in as it's been proposed, not that the detail is particularly clear, but as I understand it, it would be absolutely devastating for New Zealand and specifically the New Zealand film industry. ''We're talking millions and millions of dollars simply wouldn't come here and a large number of people would be out of work. ''I think companies like Weta, for example, would probably be forced to relocate to survive.'' It would ''simply be unaffordable'' for such companies doing high-end work for big Hollywood productions to get hired unless they relocated aspects of their business to the United States - which he believed was exactly what Mr Trump wanted. The announcement should be taken seriously and he expected the New Zealand film industry and the government in the interim to lobby against such a policy, but believed Hollywood was likely to push back and the announcement could be back-tracked. Areas of Otago recently played host to Hollywood actors and crews filming the seven-episode Netflix adaptation of John Steinbeck's 1952 novel East of Eden. While the source material is mainly set in the Salinas Valley, California, it appeared to have been ''clearly more cost effective'' to use the Otago landscape as a stand-in, Mr Sarkies said. Because film production in Otago was ''more sporadic'' than in Auckland and Wellington, such a tariff would have relatively less of an effect among regional industries. ''The circus won't come to town as often and that will have an effect, but it won't be as devastating as it will be in the major centres.''
