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July 23, 2018

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NZ International Film Festival 2018

Yellow is Forbidden is at the NZ International Film Festival in Auckland and 12 other locations.  If you are in Auckland – at the first two NZIFF screenings (both Civic Theatre) screenings will be followed by a Q+A in the Wintergarden.

“In Guo Pei she meets a subject fit for the times. The contemporary hankering for imperial grandeur may never have looked more insanely magnificent than in Guo Pei’s world of wearable arts. Its roots in suppression, aptly alluded to in the film’s title, are astutely observed in Brettkelly’s fascinating, gorgeous film.”
….
“With a remarkable eye for detail and exquisite blending of visual art forms, Pietra Brettkelly captures Guo’s drive, artistry, meticulousness, and acumen.” — Brian Gordon, Tribeca Film Festival

The Herald said
4 out of 5 stars NZ Herald

“…enough nuance to keep non-fashionastas hooked.”

Inside Film-Maker Pietra Brettkelly’s New Documentary Yellow Is Forbidden
Rosie Herdman meets award-winning film-maker Pietra Brettkelly ahead of the release of her latest film at the New Zealand International Film Festival

By Rosie Herdman Note: Includes a podcast.

Our picks from this year’s New Zealand International Film Festival line up Denizen.

Yellow Is Forbidden
From New Zealand director Pietra Brettkelly, this documentary explores the luxurious world of Chinese designer Guo Pei (best known for designing the yellow dress Rihanna wore to the Met Gala in 2015) as she strives to be recognised by the gate-keepers of haute couture and prepares for her Paris debut. For screenings and tickets, click here.

“Brettkelly’s deliciously intimate film…a near visceral experience” Sydney Morning Herald.

Yellow is Forbidden  Sydney Morning Herald

From bomber jackets to bling, MIFF struts its fashion cred
The Fashion X Cinema line-up includes documentaries and feature films in which clothes help tell the tale.
SMH.COM.AU
news, Yellow is Forbidden |

May 24, 2018

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Spring and Tribeca

Spring and TribecaEn route to my film’s last screening at Tribeca Film Festival in New York I walked through the spring of Central Park. And a little boy came to show me the mosquito he’d caught, in a jar, that he was feeding a tulip flower.

I asked him to take my photo with the blossoms. And while his skills being able to capture alive other species is questionable, I think the kid has a certain appreciation of chiaroscuro as you see in the photo attached….

And now in the beauty of home, an autumn swim and distilling the last month of YELLOW IS FORBIDDEN’s world premier, then Hotdocs Documentary Film Festival Toronto, my genre home and then to the inspirational and crazy Cannes Film Festival.

It has been magical and I thank you all truly for your enthusiasm for my film, your kindness to me and your dedication to helping me continue in this extraordinary filmic life.

For all the fabulous reviews and articles, and information on future screenings go to the film’s facebook page… https://www.facebook.com/yellowisforbidden/

 

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December 6, 2017

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Metro Profile – Oct 2017

A profile story has been published in the September- October 2017 issue of Metro. Here are the introductory paragraphs. To read the full story click here or on link at the bottom.

“World vision
Film-maker Pietra Brettkelly travels the globe, surmounting financial and other obstacles to make her documentaries. She tells Metro about refusing to compromise, her new film – and why she wants to hang out with the Pope.

Pietra Brettkelly in Afghanistan filming A Flickering Truth. Photo/ Jacob Bryant.

Pietra Brettkelly in Afghanistan filming A Flickering Truth. Photo/ Jacob Bryant.

Hers is not a nine-to-five job. She doesn’t want that kind of life. She wants a life that is unpredictable and adventurous and has a sense of discovery attached to it the whole time. That is the life Pietra Brettkelly has always wanted.
Typically, her documentaries take years to make. For the last one, A Flickering Truth, she travelled to Afghanistan seven times during the two years and seven months of filming.

On these trips, she made it clear to drivers not to go near Taliban country. Once, she and her crew drove through a Taliban town, unaware until they got there. They headed up through the mountains and their van broke down and the driver turned around and said, “Put your burka on and stay in the car.” She thought to herself, “Okay, we could all be kidnapped; some of us are foreigners and it would be a great ransom for the Taliban.” She’s happy to put herself at risk, but not the others. It was dark by the time they were back on the road and hours before they got to the next town. No lights anywhere. They encountered roadblocks and saw drones. She was scared, but she never worries she is going to die. Sometimes she thinks if it did happen, what an extraordinary life she’s had. It’s exactly the life she wanted.”

Read the full profile Pietra Brettkelly on her new film and why she wants to hang out with the Pope
by Aimie Cronin / 30 November, 2017

 

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August 28, 2017

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The Guo Pei story

“A new film by New Zealand film maker Pietra Brettkelly chronicles the life and work of fashion designer Guo Pei – it’s called Yellow is Forbidden – currently in post production. Guo Pei – whose clients include Beyonce and Rihanna – is based in Beijing and Paris. Pietra is fundraising to finish the film.”

‘Yellow is Forbidden’ is in post production now. Radio New Zealand featured the film over the weekend. Listen below.

How You Can Help – Boosted

YELLOW IS FORBIDDEN was an extraordinary film to shoot and edit. As with any creative venture, there must be difficulty – ha! – and that has been in the funding.

I’ve managed to raise nearly half the budget, but I need your help to cover the fine cut of the film, the composer, archive, colour grade, sound mix and deferred fees.

The great thing about Boosted is that NZ donors can claim 33% back on their tax return. So if you give $100 you can claim $33 back!

I’m needing more than $20,000 but am truly grateful for anything. Boosted is an all-or-nothing platform meaning that if I don’t reach the target of $20,000 in 30 days your donation will be refunded.

My overseas friends, Boosted is in New Zealand dollars – $1NZ equates to about .75US cents. But if you would like to donate US$1000 or more let me know as there is a similar US charitable organisation that operates for such donations.

Note: PROJECT STATUS: SUCCESSFUL $22,725.00 OF $20,000.00 by 98 DONORS. Thanks everyone.

A Flickering Truth, films |

June 21, 2016

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A Flickering Truth

About ‘A Flickering Truth’ Andrew Pulver, from The Guardian says:

Here is an outstanding film from the New Zealand director Pietra Brettkelly that starts off slowly, but builds into a revelatory document about Afghanistan and its current travails. Its unlikely vehicle is the attempt to restore and rescue the Afghan film archive in Kabul, trashed by the Taliban in a religiously inspired frenzy. Afghan film-maker Ibrahim Arify, living in Germany, returns to take command of the project, exhibiting visible frustration at the backwoods ways of his compatriots’ – both the finagling day labourers and the ingenuous Isaaq, the aged caretaker who lives in the office.

To see this film at the NZ Film Festival check here

“Following the approach of the great documentary maker Frederick Wiseman (In Jackson Heights), Brettkelly’s crystal-clear images are unaccompanied by title cards, talking heads or, perhaps most ambitiously, voiceover, so the viewer is flung into the world of the film and forced to be part of the action. The very real physical threat of the world depicted becomes all too apparent, heightening the importance and urgency of the work Arify is undertaking. Film preservation has never looked so important or so current. — TW”

In A Flickering Truth, we meet the dedicated cinephiles who are now excavating, preserving, and restoring thousands of hours of film footage, both drama and documentary, from Afghanistan’s cinematic past. New Zealand wide release for ‘A Flickering Truth’ is August 25th.

 

A Flickering Truth, films |

August 22, 2012

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NEW ZEALAND FILM FESTIVAL

nzff2012Have loved being at the q and a of my film screening as part of the NZ Film Festival. Tauranga and Hawkes Bay coming up.

And also sending off funding applications for my next film tentatively titled FLICKERING TIME BOMB, that I’ll start filming in October in Afghanistan. Very exciting.

films, Maoriboygenius |

June 10, 2012

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Sydney Film Festival over… Sheffield Doc/Fest here I come

SFFSheffield-DF-logo Just had two sold-out screenings of Maori Boy Genius at Sydney Film Festival. And a standing ovation. Humbling business.

Wore a great gold frock my mum had made me which gave me strength, though I could see her in the audience watching me nervously as I played equally nervously with threads that were hanging down….

Now off to Sheffield Doc/Fest and then onwards to Afghanistan to begin my next film, OASIS.

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February 15, 2012

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Variety Reviews Māori Boy Genius

Variety Reviews Māori Boy Genius:

What if some shrewd filmmaker had recognized Barack Obama’s boyhood promise and documented the birth of his political consciousness as a teen? In “Maori Boy Genius,” documaker Pietra Brettkelly (“The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins”) may well be profiling New Zealand’s future prime minister.

Despite the hyperbolic title, subtitled “Volume One,” the low-key pic is an inspiring look at the education and training of charismatic, articulate 16-year-old Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti, pegged since birth as a future leader. A smart choice for broadcasters and fests, “Genius” should have a healthy shelf life in educational ancillary.

Read the Variety review

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December 14, 2011

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A prisoner in the roof….

Drama this morning. I’m with a friend of mine, in Hamilton (1/5 hours south of my home in Auckland) for her radiation treatment. We turned up this morning at the hospital were put in a room while prison guards and police searching for a runaway prisoner in the roof of the hospital. As we waited imaging the guy scampering around in the roof, we were told they didn’t want to crank up the radiation machine in case it affected the police trying to track him down. It seemed he was in for some dental work and on a toilet break took the opportunity to climb up into the roof. The guards waiting outside wondered why he was taking so long, and then found an empty loo and a missing panel in the roof. He was recovered though, falling through into the office of one of the hospital management. Oh to be a fly on that wall…..

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December 6, 2011

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Departing Denmark-land

Have departed Denmark and the extraordinary time editing with Molly Stensgaard (editor of Melancholia, Dancer in the Dark etc) and now juggling two huge drives containing the latest cut of the film MAORI BOY GENIUS, on numerous flights. New Zealand and summer here I come…