New Zealand film Shopping has won an incredibly prestigious award.
Shopping is the first feature film from writing and directing team Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland- who is of Samoan and Scottish descent.
Their short films The Six Dollar Fifty Man and Run have already earned the pair a long list of awards.
Announcing the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International section for the best feature film, the jury had this to say about Shopping and Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland:
"An extremely compelling first film with a fantastic lead actor. We loved watching him on screen and felt a deep empathy with him. Sharp editing, strong visual choices and a complex, painful and loving portrayal of family. We appreciated the specificity of the world you brought us into. Your dedication to your vision is palpable."
The Berlin International Film Festival is one of the oldest and most respected on the international film calendar.
Shopping was shot on the Kapiti Coast and in Wellington. The film features Maori and Pacific actors that includes Jacek Koman (Moulin Rouge, Australia, Defiance, The Hunter) as Bennie, Alistair Browning (Rain) as Terry and introduces Kevin Paulo as Willie and Julian Dennison as Solomon.
Shopping is set in 1981 in a world of muscle cars, racial tensions and a thieving bird, all of which inform the small town life of brothers Willie and Solomon. After a chance encounter with charismatic thief Bennie and his close-knit gang of 'shoppers', Willie is seduced into a criminal world that allows him to escape mounting tensions with his volatile father. But as Bennie's hold over him grows Willie finds himself in over his head; and when Solomon is left to fend for himself at home, Willie's two worlds collide with shattering consequences.
The film was financed by the New Zealand Film Commission with support from Fulcrum Media Finance. It will be distributed in New Zealand and Australia by Madman Entertainment with a New Zealand theatrical release scheduled for this year.
Kt-02/13
