Director Taika Waititi was so passionate while speaking about colonialism and New Zealand at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of his latest movie that he apparently broke a microphone — after repeatedly punching it.
Well, he at least appeared to break it — it wasn’t immediately clear whether the mic actually broke or if it was a comedic bit from Waititi.
Waititi was introducing his newest movie “Next Goal Wins” when the funny moment’s followup was captured by TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman.
The director continued on with his intro and is seen commenting, “It’s very important to show ourselves on screen … I hope you enjoy the film, and before we start I would like to acknowledge the land that we’re on and the people who are from this land.”
Other films at TIFF also included land acknowledgments, but they were usually not read by a filmmaker but rather in a video before each film.
The movie — which stars Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss and Oscar Kightley — tells the story of the 2014 World Cup attempt by American Samoa’s soccer team, which came 12 years after the team lost 31-0 in a 2002 qualifier.
The film’s TIFF synopsis acknowledges that stunning defeat and clarifies, “The nation of American Samoa (population 45,000) was never going to be an international football powerhouse, but a 31-0 loss to Australia put them in the record books in the worst possible way.
Fassbender plays Dutch-American manager Thomas Rongen, who arrives in the leisurely-paced land to try to teach local players the discipline needed as they make a qualifying run for the 2014 World Cup.
“But even if the outcome — chronicled in a documentary by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison — is known, the pleasure comes from watching the characters on the pitch, Indigenous Samoan players who mostly sucked, mostly knew it, and still played their hearts out,” the description continues.
“Next Goal Wins” will be released on Nov. 17.
