Actor Bruce Hopkins will play the lead role in a short film, to be shot in Queenstown in late October. PHOTO: THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD Imagine a man called Sam Gangees, who knows nothing about The Lord of the Rings trilogy, let alone the fact that one of the lead characters is called Samwise Gamgee. The man with a very similar name is a grieving father, who reluctantly joins a The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) tour in Queenstown and unexpectedly finds friendship, healing and hope. It is the plot of an independent New Zealand short film called Wise Sam Gangees, and stars veteran New Zealand actor Bruce Hopkins — best known for playing Gamling in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Dunedin producer Stefan Roesch said unlike many fan productions, this one was an original story about fans, rather than an adaptation of Tolkien’s work, and used the world of fandom to explore grief, mental health and human connection. ‘‘It’s a grieving father who joins a guided The Lord of the Rings tour with fans, and he finds community and a sense of hope in one of his darkest moments, by being on LOTR locations with those people. ‘‘It explores grief, belonging and the power of community through the lens of The Lord of the Rings fandom.’’ He said the idea for the short film was based on a real-life experience of writer and director Pennie Hunt, who reluctantly joined a LOTR tour in Queenstown with her then-boyfriend, many years ago. ‘‘She initially felt completely out of place, but the warmth and generosity of the fan community left a lasting impression. ‘‘That experience sparked a story about how fandom can become a place of belonging — especially during life’s most difficult moments.’’ Producer Stefan Roesch with a cave troll at Wētā Cave, in Wellington. Photo: Supplied It was yet another way in which the LOTR films had continued to give back to New Zealand, Mr Roesch said. A casting call for the four roles of the fans on the tour was put out globally yesterday. ‘‘The hope is that we will find four fans — Tolkien fans — from around the world, who will fill those roles, because we really want to respect that fandom. ‘‘It’s a tight-knit community and, in our opinion, there’s no better way to do that than cast those four roles from the international Tolkien fan community.’’ He said the production had already received some ‘‘seed funding’’ and sponsorship, but he had now started a crowd-funding campaign to help fill the budget gap. Filming would be done by a South Island team, and was expected to start in Queenstown at the end of October and run over four days. Once the film was completed he hoped to get it screened at A-list festivals such as Palm Springs, Cannes and Sundance. ‘‘And then hopefully, once we’ve had a successful festival run, we’ll put it online for all the fans to see.’’ john.lewis@odt.co.nz
