Robert Sarkies
Directing
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Robert Sarkies (born 1969) is a New Zealand film director and scriptwriter. Sarkies grew up in the South Island city of Dunedin, and his two feature films released to date have been set in Dunedin, or close by. He began making short films as a teenager with fellow filmmaker Simon Perkins. After winning an international award for his short Dream-makers, Sarkies began work on his most ambitious short to date: the adventure comedy Signing Off (1996), which won four international awards and helped attract funding for Scarfies(1999), Sarkies' feature film debut. Sarkies co-wrote the Scarfies script with his younger brother, playwright and performer Duncan Sarkies. Winner of seven awards including Best Picture and Best Director at the NZ Film Awards, the film is part comedy, part thriller, and partly a celebration of being a university student in Dunedin. Scarfies was later released on video in the United States under the title Crime 101. Sarkies' second feature is the true-life thriller Out of the Blue based on the 1990 Aramoana Massacre, in which a gunman killed thirteen people in a seaside town not far from Dunedin. The film emphasizes realism over melodrama, partly through handheld camerawork and a naturalistic acting style. Some of those living in Aromoana expressed opposition to the film being made; others who lost people in the tragedy agreed to do interviews with scriptwriters Sarkies and Graeme Tetley. In New Zealand, Out of the Blue went on to become the tenth most successful local film yet released theatrically (not accounting for inflation), and win six Qantas Film and Television Awards in September 2008, including "Best Picture - budget over $1 million". As of October 2008, Out of the Blue's rating on critics' website Rotten Tomatoes was 91 per cent. Before the making of Out of the Blue, the Sarkies brothers worked together on the script for a fantasy film called The Magnificent Magic Fingers. The budget for Magic Fingers was estimated to be at least NZ$20 million. It is not yet clear whether Magic Fingers will join Peter Jackson's unmade Blubberhead as one of the great fantasy films that never quite emerged from down under. In 2010, the TV series This Is Not My Life, directed by Sarkies, debuted on New Zealand Television. Hopefully Robert will be considering a major role for Andy Faulkner, who he directed to great comedic effect in a 2006 TVC for Ford Fairmont Ghia. Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Sarkies, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known For
Two complete strangers, Lola and Chelsea, intervene in a fatal carjacking while waiting at a suburban bus stop, and are subsequently thrust into a chase from authorities across Australia with a vehicle filled with cash. The strangers must rely solely on each other while on the run.
Wanted
In the aftermath of an explosion that rocked the Pike River Mine and took the lives of 29 West Coasters, two women step up to fight for accountability.
Pike River
Based on the best-selling book 'My Story' this feature length drama goes beyond the headlines to tell an intimate story about secrets and one woman's struggle to have them heard. In 1993 Louise Nicholas made her first shocking accusations about being raped by policemen. Some believed her, many didn't. CONSENT tells the story of the senior policeman who went to great lengths to help her fight her case, the journalist who exposed the truth, and the family at the center of the storm.
Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story
Ordinary people find extraordinary courage in the face of madness. On 13–14 November 1990 that madness came to Aramoana, a small New Zealand seaside town, in the form of a lone gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle. As he stalked his victims the terrified and confused residents were trapped for 24 hours while a handful of under-resourced and under-armed local policemen risked their lives trying to find him and save the survivors. Based on true events.
Out of the Blue
Nige runs over and accidentally kills a Scandinavian soccer star in an unfortunate incident involving a hot meat pie, a ginger cat and a policeman. He chucks the body in a nearby road works hole and runs to his best mate of fifteen years, Deano. But Deano's not the guy you should turn to in a crisis...
Two Little Boys
This dark comedy is set in Dunedin, New Zealand. A university student finds an old "abandoned" house and proceeds to invite other students to share. It even has running electricity. But what is the catch?
Scarfies
The true story of Jean Batten is of a daughter determined to live up to a powerful mother, desperate to leave a mark on the world – and prepared to go to the ends of the earth to do so. This is the story of JEAN.
Jean
An enigmatic young musician becomes the captive audience for a crusty old cab driver's hilarious dirty story on the taxi ride from hell.
Honk If You're Horny
Compilation of six short films from New Zealand: Dream Makers I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Dirty Creature Time Is a Spider Lovelock A Woman's Heart
Dark Stories 3: Tales from the Grave
An imperious 'dream director' and her technicians create a new nightmare, using an advert for Germo toilet cleaner as inspiration. Suzie is so scared she avoids using her grandparents' loo. Meanwhile her subconscious dream team are planning their best production yet.
Dream-Makers
When statistician John Wilkins is sucked out of a plane at 43,000 feet, he calculates that he has exactly 3 minutes and 48 seconds before he hits the ground.
43,000 Feet
Julia goes to a movie to cheer herself up. She arrives late and is given a seat in the middle of the row. But surrounding her are the theatre's most distracting patrons!
Flames From The Heart
Compilation of six short films from New Zealand: Hinekaro Flames from the Heart Snap The Dig The Model Valley of the Stereos
Dark Stories 2: Tales from Beneath
It's the late 1950s, and the DJ of a nostalgic radio program, out-of-date in the time of the Beatles, has just been fired. On his last broadcast, he decides to play requests, and a loyal listener (according to his ratings, just about his only listener) asks for her late husband's favorite song. But when fate intervenes, the DJ has to prove just how far he'll go to make his biggest fan happy.