Press release from Julian Shaw
Cup of Dreams – an All Blacks documentary four years in the making – will premiere in Australia this Thursday on Movie One, one night before the 2011 Rugby World Cup kicks off in Auckland. The Screen Australia film, which features never-before-seen footage of the fallout from the All Blacks World Cup loss in 2007, arrives hot on the back of a free-to-air screening in New Zealand earlier this week. Website: www.cupofdreamsmovie.com
“The All Blacks are one of the most recognisable sporting icons in the world, and the Rugby World Cup – which kicks off on Friday – is now the third biggest television event in the world so the timing could not be better for Cup of Dreams to debut,” says 25-year-old Sydney director Julian Shaw. “Cup of Dreams took four years to make and takes you deep inside the All Blacks camp and inside the psyche of New Zealand.
But this film goes beyond the rugby, goes deeper into some pretty emotional territory – you don’t have to like sport to enjoy this film, it’s a great human story. It’s about what it means to belong to a tribe, it’s about family and identity. The story of my own broken family is a part of the narrative, so it’s probably the most personal film I’ll ever make.”
Shaw’s film has been endorsed by one of the greatest All Backs of all time – John Kirwan, who is coaching Japan at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. “Julian’s talent inspires me,” the World Cup-winning All Black winger says.
“Cup of Dreams is a story I find very emotionally powerful and I hope that a large audience gets behind the film and watches it on TV because it offers a new perspective on what hosting the Rugby World Cup really means to New Zealand as a nation.”
Cup of Dreams airs on Movie One on September 8 at 8.30PM.