Director: Taika Waititi

Producers: Ainsley Gardiner, Cliff Curtis, Emanuel Michael

Cinematography: Adam Clark

Running Time: 88 minutes

Year of Production: 2010

The year is 1984, and on the rural East Coast of New Zealand “Thriller” is changing kids’ lives. Inspired by the Oscar nominated Two Cars, One Night, Boy is the hilarious and heartfelt coming-of-age tale about heroes, magic and Michael Jackson.

Boy lives with his brother Rocky, a tribe of deserted cousins and his Grandma. Boy’s other hero, his father, Alamein, is the subject of Boy’s fantasies, and he imagines him as a deep sea diver, war hero and a close relation of Michael Jackson (he can even dance like him). In reality Alamein is an inept, wannabe gangster who has been in jail for robbery. When Alamein returns home after seven years away, Boy is forced to confront the man he thought he remembered, find his own potential and learn to get along without the hero he had been hoping for.

Taika Waititi says of Boy, “Part of what makes this film distinct is the humour; I want to explore the painful comedy of growing up and interpreting the world. I think that’s what makes my films different, the feeling that although there is often darkness, there are also little bits of light to encourage hope and hold on to possibility.”

Boy is the highest-grossing New Zealand film ever made.

Director / Writer / Actor Taika Waititi (also going by the surname Cohen) is of Te-Whanau-a-Apanui descent and hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast. He has been involved in the arts for several years, as a visual artist, actor, writer and director. Taika’s first short film, ‘Two Cars, One Night’, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005. His next short, ‘Tama Tu’ about a group of Maori soldiers in Italy during World War II won a string of international awards, making it also eligible for Oscar nomination. His first feature, Eagle vs. Shark, was released internationally in 2007 after selling to Miramax on the basis of a trailer.