In Melbourne meeting sales agents and distributers. We had a good screening of Russian Snark and are hoping for a pick up of our film. Interest from several parties however in Stephen’s next film project so will keep you posted about that over the next few months.

Global exploitation of our film is off to a roaring start, with its screening this Friday at the Melbourne Film Festival’s 37 Degrees South Film Market. We’re the only Kiwi film to be chosen as one of the Breakthru Screenings, which will be attended by sales agents and distributors from all over. I wouldn’t mind being there myself, but it’s really more of a producer’s playground than a writer/director’s. Besides, I’m rehearsing my play Intimacies, which is going on at the Victoria Theatre in Devonport in early August, so I’ll have to leave the horse trading to Liz, who is off to Oz tomorrow. Sock it ‘em, Liz!

RUSSIAN SNARK – Excerpted from reviews below:

**** “A beautiful, touchingly drawn Kiwi film about Russian immigrants in Auckland. Russian Snark is a strange but delightful beast., well worth hunting out.” Sunday Star Times.

**** “A wee gem. (It) made me do something no New Zealand-made feature has since Boy: the next day, I went and saw it again.” The Dominion Post.

**** “Great entertainment … Sinclair is a winner. A fascinating exploration of cinema art.” The Waikato Times.

“Wonderful … charming … a beautiful, beautiful  film.” Kiwi FM.

“Humour, whimsy and visual beauty turn Russian Snark from a typical migrant tale into something near-poetic.” NZ Listener.

“A little gem … deserves to be a hit. Ideal festival fare – independent, arty, challenging and ultimately very rewarding.” The G.B. Weekly.

We are heading to Melbourne! We have been confirmed for the 37 Degree South Break Thru Screenings and are very excited about the possibility of getting an international sales agent and potentially an Australian distributer for our film.  The market is geared to assist Australian and NZ producers in making contact with the wider world, and so attracts buyers looking for antipodean projects both in the script stage and the finished stage like Russian Snark. As one of only 7 films screening in the Break Thru screenings we hope this wil indeed be a break through for us!  Will keep you posted as things progress on that front!

We have a had a great theatrical run at over 28 cinemas around NZ and garnered lots of critical acclaim in the process…looking forward to the next step!

Last night I had a read-through of my new stage show Intimacies, which goes into rehearsal in a couple of weeks. It’s an evening of two one act plays, both set in the near future, opening in early August at the Victoria Theatre in Devonport – my local playhouse. What with Russian Snark playing in cinemas round the country, my life is once again feeling dynamic and interesting! Because the reality for me, as for most writers and directors, is that most of one’s professional life is spent grinding away at scripts, waiting for word from funding bodies, nursing our fragile egos through the trauma of rejection, and generally trying to stay motivated through long lonely hours of introspection. But never mind that now – for the next month or two I’m going to make the most of being a social butterfly!

http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=360

James Croot Reviews Russian Snark -

Tired of being unappreciated and misunderstood, veteran Russian filmmaker Misha (Stephen Papps) casts himself adrift from his homeland and set sail for pastures new.

Accompanied by his partner and muse Nadia (Elena Stejko), he washes up in Auckland and is instantly enamoured with the rugged locales and friendly locals. However, recruiting Kiwis and finances for his “art films” proves difficult and even Nadia is beginning to tire of Misha’s methods and beliefs that “narrative is for children” and “to make art one must endure a little discomfort”. “You’re not the one who has to lie on sharp rocks,” she snaps.

Part of the collective febrile mind behind early Peter Jackson pics Brain Dead and Meet the Feebles, Stephen Sinclair makes his feature film directorial debut with this eccentric, eclectic but ultimately actually quite engaging Kiwi black comedy. Although filled with familiar settings (especially to those who saw An Insatiable Moon last year) and faces (which include former Shortland Streeters Rene Naufahu, Stephanie Tauveihi and Greg Johnson, Russian Snark is far removed from recent cuddly Kiwi comedies like Love Birds or Second Hand Wedding.

With its minimalist, atmospheric soundtrack and arty black and white imagery and lashings of “artistic” nudity (which even includes the striking Stejko performing a striptease in national costume) it has more in common with the works of Florian Habicht than this country’s more mainstream, multiplex-friendly fare.

However, strip back Misha’s visual and visceral excesses and Snark is a Python-esque comedy that isn’t afraid to take the mickey out of both Kiwi and Russian serious art. The Piano is beautifully skewered in an over-the-top beach shoot, while that much-celebrated glasnostic-insomnia cure Russian Ark is parodied not only in the title but also in the sheer pretentiousness of Misha’s work.

As he himself says. “Art should not always be serious. It should be like life. Life is God’s joke.”

http://publicaddress.net/system/topic/3112/

Damian Christie and Michele A’Court catch up with Stephen Sinclair to talk about the process of writing and directing his first feature film ‘Russian Snark’.