Ian Mune as Norm – Don’t worry, he’s just acting

One of the pleasures of the Insatiable Moon set is the presence of so many character-filled faces familiar to New Zealand audiences from their work in television and theatre. There’s a wealth of experience here that has enriched the film beyond what anyone could have expected.

And yet, the struggle to get the story from script to audience has included a reluctance from some of New Zealand’s powers-that-be to fund it. We’re operating with a vastly limited budget, and are perhaps surprising even ourselves by what can be accomplished. We still hope to work with folks among the ‘official’ NZ film-making gatekeepers, but for now, two of our most distinguished cast members want to speak their minds about the challenges of the current film-funding climate, as we roll toward the completion of production on Friday.

Both veteran Kiwi actor Ian Mune and Whale Rider star Rawiri Paratene say they are proud to be part of this low budget production. Moon struggled over the past seven years, and when external funding was not forthcoming the producers decided to fund it through personal support. Mune, celebrated for his work in Sleeping Dogs, Came a Hot Friday, and The End of the Golden Weather comments on the challenges New Zealand film production, given both financial and regulatory constraints:

“The Insatiable Moon is a great New Zealand story which revels in its own local world, and features some of the cream of our talent. The fact that it has taken seven years of development doesn’t detract from the fact that this is a film which needed to bemade.”

As a NZ cinema writing, directing and acting legend, Mune has often been critical of the lack of support for genuinely indigenous films. He has spoken out against the overly restrictive domestic development process.

“To me it is a completely negative, destructive, anti-any kind of New Zealand cinema system. Because all the values of narrative development and construction and characterization and how you write are all based on stuff from America and England. But a nation thinking its own thoughts and being true to its own characters will produce not only its own language but its own forms. With The Insatiable Moon I’m watching yet another NZ film being made by producers on their own without support from the NZ Film Commission, and I wonder whether the ones made without NZFC input aren’t better than those with. The Insatiable Moon is really very interesting and exciting, and it’s a pleasure to be on the set. I have a similar feeling on this script to that which I had when looking at Once Were Warriors before it came out.”

Ra Tries to Get Some More Funding

Rawiri Paratene says that his part in The Insatiable Moon is the role of lifetime. Ra said, “Arthur is the central character of a bloody good Kiwi yarn. His wry insights and genuine innocence will win the hearts of audiences around the world. it’s a story that deserved the support of the NZ Film Commission. When that support didn’t come, it forced us into a more ‘frugal’ style of film-making, which has ended up a blessing. I think that the pluck shown by the producers could be just the kind of thing that helps endear this film to international audiences. Audiences love good stories, well-told, and films made against all odds. The Insatiable Moon is all that and more.”

We are fast approaching the end of what Tom Burstyn calls ‘gathering the information’; we’ll have a party on Saturday to celebrate wrapping the shooting process, but next week the work of shaping it into a finished film begins in earnest. But I want to pause before we get ahead of ourselves, and recognize that the word ‘wrap’ is an appropriate one for The Insatiable Moon, because it has remained the entity for me since I first read it, 12 years ago, and was struck by this tale of magic, hope amidst despair, and the reality of love on the streets of Ponsonby, through when I had the privilege of getting to know its writer as one of the finest friends a person could aspire to have, to when I read the first version of the script half a decade ago, to when the writer hired his wife to direct it, to these past couple of weeks as I have watched it unfold into cinematic form. It has remained the same thing, I’m sure, since before Mike wrote it, since when it was an inspiration drawn from a series of seemingly random events and people. ‘Wrap’ is the right word because The Insatiable Moon is a gift.

Posted in Acting, Finance, Frugal Film-Making, news, Production process, Small miracles, The Meaning of the Film?