Squeegee Bandit, makes its television premiere

Oct. 27, 2008

Squeegee Bandit, makes its television premiere

Thursday, Oct. 30, 8:30pm on Sky’s Rialto Channel.

The award-winning film was released theatrically in New Zealand and has played in film festivals in over ten countries. Director Sándor Lau, who now lives in the United States, is in New Zealand for this week only (Oct. 27-31) and is available for photos and interviews. The film’s protagonist, Starfish, is a Mäori man who survives by washing car windows at intersections on the mean streets of South Auckland, New Zealand.

He's a born hustler with an extreme personality-magnetic charisma, infectious humour, and a vicious temper. Squeegee Bandit follows Starfish's struggles through nine months, three cars, two women, thirty residences, three weeks of homelessness, a hundred run-ins with the cops, one court date, a kilo of marijuana, a closet full of skeletons, finding God and the Zen of window washing.

Told mainly in black and white with rotoscoped splashes of colour, the film is styled more after feature film and music video than traditional documentary.

Music drives the rhythm of the story, and the soundtrack features Nesian Mystik, EPR, MC Zodiac, Mr. Sicc, Bigg Roccs, Truce Lee, Karl Paraha, VRS, Ngamaru Raerino and guitar score by Dave Goodison (City Newton Bombers, Garageland). Squeegee Bandit was nominated for best digital feature at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards 2006, and won the prize for Best Technical Contribution to a Digital Feature.

The film also won judges’ choice award at Hokitika’s Wet West Film Fest and best long documentary at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival. Critics have been equally enthusiastic about the film, which earned four-star reviews from the New Zealand Herald and Sunday Star-Times. Squeegee Bandit is available at most NZ video shops on DVD. A full press kit with stills, audio clips and trailer is available at www.squeegeebandit.com.

Rialto Channel will feature additional screenings through November: http://www.rialtochannel.co.nz/programme/index.cfm?view=search&keyword=squ eegee+bandit

ENDS

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