STACK NZ August 2016 Issue 76

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04 AUGUST 2016
EXTRAS
I n Gavin Hood’s edge-of-your-
seat thriller, Abdi plays
undercover operative Jama
Farah, who is tracking a group of
terrorists on the ground in Nairobi.
Thousands of miles away in London,
the operation is being masterminded
and monitored via the use of cutting-
edge drone technology; the UK military
unit leading the operation is headed
up by Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen
Mirren). The plan is to capture the
terrorists with the help of Kenyan
security forces, but once it becomes
clear that the targets are about to
embark on a suicide bombing, the
mission escalates from a ‘capture’ to
‘kill’ operation.
"I think it’s a very important story
and a very sensitive one that needs to
be told; it’s about how innocent people
get caught up in a war,” says Abdi,
who came to fame through his Oscar-
nominated performance in Captain
Phillips. ”As far as the story goes, I
think I relate to the young girl’s situation
because I was in a similar one.
“I was stuck in a war with my
mum and my brother and my sister in
Mogadishu, but our situation was much
better,” he says. “You could hear the
guns, and we could see where it was
going – you could run and you could
hide. That’s war and it’s not easy.
“But with drones, the whole game
changes completely, and you don’t
know anything. They can strike from
above and you don’t know when it’s
coming. [The film is] about the innocent
people who get caught up in this, and
it’s very touching and very important
to show people, emotionally, what
happens.”
See the digital edition of August’s
STACK for the full feature. Adam Colby
Eye in the Skyis out on August 11.
GAME OF
DRONES
The drone thriller Eye in the Sky
brought back painful memories
for star Barkhad Abdi.
P ost-punk outfit Trust Punks are back
with their first full length album Double
Bind, the follow-up to their fine 2014
mini-album Discipline .
Originally from Auckland, the five-piece have
been making in-roads into the Australian market
and vocalist Joe Thomas now lives in Sydney.
And he admits he has gleaned a new
perspective between the two countries,
particularly when it comes to art and music.
“A lot of [artists and musicians] have a love/
hate relationship with [New Zealand]," he says.
“I think on one hand, the people who feel
suffocated are right; it can be a bit restricting.
On the other hand, now that I’ve moved and
have seen other places, that sort of isolation
can be really good for music and art. I do think
that New Zealand is now realising that part of
making good art is backing yourself, and having
that sense of confidence. The music scene [in
Australia] has a real sense of its own worth.”
Zoë Radas
Double Bind by Trust Punks is out now.
Trust Punks’ Joe Thomas sees both sides of the NZ/AUS artistic coin.
How Simon Cowell inadvertently inspired a reboot of the belovedTV sitcom.
DAD'S ARMY HAS THE X FACTOR
"I was in front of the telly on a
Saturday evening three or four years
ago, not wanting to watch The
X-Factor,” recalls producer Damian Jones of
his 'eureka' moment, “so I channel-surfed
and there on BBC was Dad’s Army.”
After enjoying the re-run of the revered
‘70s comedy about an elderly unit of the
Home Guard during the Second World
War, The History Boys producer did a bit
of digging and discovered that nearly three
million Brits were still tuning in every week
to watch the the misadventures of Captain
Mainwaring and his men.
Jones duly approached the Dad’s Army
estate with the idea for a movie. “They
were open to it,” he remembers of their first
meeting, “so I got [screenwriter] Hamish
[McColl] on board and we shared our
thoughts with them. That’s how it started to
come together.”
In the big screen remake, Toby Jones
plays the pompous Mainwaring, while Bill
Nighy is the long-suffering Sergeant Wilson.
Dad's Army is due out on August 24.
best of both worlds?