From the producer of Once Were Warriors and Rain
William McInnes (Look Both Ways, Sea Change) is the can-do barbecue dad of the title in Brendan Donovan’s affectionate comedy-drama. He plays a Howick cleaning contractor, whose hopes and dreams include success in local body politics. But his real passion is kart-racing and he’s grooming his teenage sons, 17-year-old Marc and 14-year-old Ed (real-life brothers Josh and William McKenzie), as future motorsport heroes. He’s borrowed so much money to make it all happen that it stretches the love of his wife Gail (Robyn Malcolm of Outrageous Fortune fame) to breaking point. When the boys collide on the track, Gazza’s world is turned upside down, causing a crisis that tears at them all — forcing him to fight to keep his dreams afloat, and his family together.
Funny, emotional, and authentic, with shades of both The Castle and Smash Palace, Gazza Snell is a surprisingly powerful father’s coming of age — about letting go and finding something much stronger to hold on to.
Director Donovan (The Insiders Guide to Happiness, The Insiders Guide to Love, Aftershock) shows us his old suburb in all its widescreen glory, while also taking the temperature of its changed ethnic mix.
Produced by Robin Scholes (Once Were Warriors, Rain).
“In a Festival replete with generation gaps, one of the most emotionally loaded has a Kiwi accent.”
— Bill Gosden, Director of the NZ Film Festival