Taika Waititi's Gem BOY Opens Today!

We've been raving about hilariously brilliant New Zealand director Taika Waititi since his first feature Eagle Vs. Shark, his wonderful shorts Two Cars One Night and Tama Tu, and his directing role in HBO's Flight of the Conchords. Now, more than two years after we swooned for the film at Sundance 2010, Waititi's semi-autobiographical and fully-heartwarming comedy Boy is finally getting an American release TODAY!. Here's my blurb:

Boy is the coming-of-age story of a young Maori boy named Boy who dreams about his father coming home and taking him away to life filled with father-son excitement. When his pops does show up (played wonderfully by Waititi), he proves to be even more of a little kid than boy. Like Eagle Vs. Shark, Taika infuses every shot with a visual whimsy that makes the film just as much fun to watch as his first film. All the characters are likable and the film just exudes charm. There are some wonderful fantasy sequences and the credits dance number is almost as much fun as Slumdog's. All in all, this is a very special film. Do what you have to do to catch it.

A big part of the release strategy involved a kickstarter campaign that Waititi personally launched to raise the funds needed to launch the publicity for the campaign. The project has so far raised over $110,000 from 1826 backers - blowing past its $90k goal (I gave, did you?). Check out the video for more on why Waititi went the kickstarter route.

Phase one of the release begins in New York at the Angelika tonight, where a warm reception will give this truly touching tale the legs it needs to make it out across the country. From NY it heads to LA, SF, Seattle, Boston, DC, Atlanta, and New Mexico (full details). From there...? Well that's up to you. We implored you to go see it on the festival circuit last summer -- now's your chance to help a little movie really take off by seeing this fantastic flick when it comes to a theater near you!

The trailer is below.