Taika Waititi To Adapt Barry Crump

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Taika Waititi To Adapt Barry Crump

2nd Sep 2009
By Paul Scantlebury, Flicks.co.nz

One of NZ's brightest filmmaking talents, Taika Waititi (Eagle vs Shark, and forthcoming The Volcano), is adaptating Barry Crump's novel Wild Pork and Watercress.

Crump is of course one of NZ's most famed storytellers - bushman, joker, bloke's bloke and author of over 30 books including A Good Keen Man (1960), Hang On A Minute Mate (1961) and Bastards I Have Met (1971). Crump died 1996.

The film, a comedy-drama is set to be re-titled Land of Tears. Waititi told the Herald on Sunday "it's about these two outcasts, this old Pakeha guy and a young Maori boy who's been in and out of foster care. They basically disappear into the bush to escape social welfare and the police who want to take the boy away."

Filming is set to start next year. Waititi's The Volcano is due in cinemas early 2010.