Director : Stephen Sinclair

New Zealand / 2010 / 80 min / BetaSp / colour / Comedy drama

Script : Stephen Sinclair
Cinematography : Steve Latty
Editing : Wayne Cook & Paul Maxwell
Music : David Long & Stephen Gallagher
Production : Liz DiFiore
Cast : Stephen Papps, Elena Stejko, Stephanie Tauevihi, Peter Rowley

Misha, a once celebrated Russian filmmaker has fallen on hard times. He resolves to leave his homeland in search of a film-friendly country where he can pursue his career. With wife Nadia in tow, he sets sail from Russia in a tiny lifeboat, drifting cross the Pacific to make land in New Zealand. Before long Misha realises that New Zealand is no more receptive to his ideas and aesthetic than Russia. Yet he perseveres with his experimental film, ignoring his wife’s pleas to find work, and increasingly withdraws into himself. Alone, his obsessions take hold and he steadily descends into madness. Only a chance encounter with a young Polynesian woman saves him from the ultimate act of self-destruction. His friendship with Roseanna inspires a re-awakening, as he begins to reconnect with the world around him.