For more information on the screening times visit here -
http://www.ageofstupid.net/screenings/country/New%20Zealand
Here's the plan for the opening night (this is an abbreviated email to NZ & Aussie supporters from the Director Franny Armstrong) -
On the evening of Weds 19th August, A-list celebs will arrive at both the Sydney Theatre in, er, Sydney, and at a zero-waste tent in central Auckland (kindly hosted by Oxfam and Greenpeace). The guests will come by bicycle, solar car, rickshaw, feet, horse or electric car, before braving the cameras on the green carpet.
Meanwhile, about 10,000 people will be watching the events unfold live at more than 40 local cinemas. (Sorry to say that almost all of these are in Australia, as New Zealand cinemas do not yet have the satellite technology to get the live link. Meaning only the Sylvia Park cinema in Auckland will actually be watching live event. Get in there quick, keen Kiwis.)
Following the movie, there will be a Q&A with the Oscar-nominated star of the film, Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) and the director, er, me, Franny Armstrong (McLibel, Drowned Out) in Sydney. We will be joined by a couple more people who haven't quite confirmed yet so we're not allowed to tell you who they are - plus an Aussie explorer who's on a Greenpeace boat in the Arctic who will hopefully be joining us live via satellite - and then there's the producer, Lizzie Gillett, who will be satellite-ing in from the Auckland tent. Linking up the two countries with low-carbon technology! Holding hands to stop climate change! Something like that! I'm very tired, it's been a long day! I mean a long six years!
Tickets are now on sale from participating cinemas and at: http://www.ageofstupid.net
Our UK launch produced just 1% of the emissions of an average Hollywood premiere - as well as hitting the top spot at the box office (by screen average) and winning a Guinness Record for biggest ever premiere - so we plan to replicate as many innovations as poss in Oz and NZ. Every aspect of the event - from the transport to the heating to the drinks to the power supply - will be genuinely green, as opposed to “greenwashed” and the pedal-powered popcorn machine is a must-have, surely. Only problem is the small fact of three of us flying round the world to do all this. We think the potential benefits outweigh the frighteningly high emissions (13 tonnes each - about 13 years of emissions for someone living sustainably), but we may well be proved wrong. In which case we will have hastened the apocalypse just that little bit nearer.
Enormous thanks to Pete for giving another eight days of his time to Mission Stupid. The poor man only signed up for a one day voiceover and the next thing he knew we'd taken over his entire life... sorry Pete. Big thanks, too, to everyone involved in the aboriginal film Liyarn Ngarn (which Pete narrated) and the Black Arm Band, who between them raised the cash to get Pete to Oz.
We're definitely going to be screening at the Aussie parliament while we're there - and hopefully at the New Zealand one too. So all in all, we have high hopes for the Aussie/Kiwi launch. Clearly our goal is to catapult climate change - and the all-important Copenhagen climate summit - slapbang into the Aussie and Kiwi consciousnesses. Can't think of any other reason I'd agree to four days of back-to-back media interviews on the other side of the world...
So here's hoping you can all help spread the word - ideas below - not least because, as ever, we have a zero dollar advertising budget.
Would end on a cheery Maori or Aboriginal sign-off, but too tired to look one up.
Hopefully see you on the 19th.
Franny
& Lizzie & Pete P
age-of-stupid-star-Peter.jpg (47.5 KB, 0 downloads) 2 years old