A game of cat and mouse - Regional News | Connecting Wellington
 Issue 184

A game of cat and mouse by Harry Bartle

New Zealand journalist and filmmaker David Farrier has reported everywhere from radioactive wastelands to shooting ranges in Southeast Asia. Yet it was his latest documentary made in Auckland that took him to the most toxic place yet.

Farrier will head to the Roxy Cinema on the 11th of November for two screenings of his film Mister Organ. Both will be followed by a Q&A with the investigative journalist, who is actually feeling quite nervous about revisiting a story that forced him to leave New Zealand for good.

“I’m excited to show people this very strange, sometimes funny, sometimes disturbing documentary. But I am also anxious about having to think about all this stuff again, and possibly having to deal with the subject matter, literally, again. Part of the reason I left NZ was to get away from Mister Organ. The film and the subject. Returning to it feels very strange.”

The documentary follows a man named Michael Organ. Organ first came to Farrier’s attention for clamping cars in a local neighbourhood. The investigation quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse between the two, as Farrier unearthed a trail of multiple court cases, inflated claims of royal bloodlines, fake identities, ruined lives, and at least one stolen boat. What was meant to be a small project became a thrilling, tension-filled three-year investigation.

“For me, I just love connecting with an audience and seeing what they took from this thing I made”, Farrier says of the upcoming screenings. “It’s fun to share the experience as this film takes various twists and turns.”

 

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« Issue 184, November 8, 2022