Australian writer Hazel Edward‘s picture-book There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake was 30 years old last year and is a must-read classic for all young Australians. The book has recently been made into a short film by Pocket Bonfire Productions, which premiered at the St Kilda Film Festival in Victoria, Australia at the end of May – here’s a photo of Hazel with writer/director Jaime Snyder and producer Joel Sharpe:
The film is due to be screened during the upcoming Edinburgh Film Festival as part of a program devoted to Family Shorts on 26 June (see here for details). Take look at the rather whimsical trailer to the film – and tell me if it doesn’t make you laugh out loud at the end!
Tantalising, isn’t it? Especially for those of us who are going to have to wait for the chance to see it… Meanwhile, we’re delighted to welcome Hazel back to PaperTigers with an article that ponders her reaction to her book being made into a film…
‘How Do You Feel About a Film Being Made from Your Picture Book There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake?
I’ve been asked that question a few times this week, especially as the world premiere is this Saturday night at the St Kilda Film Festival. And then it goes onto the international showing at the Edinburgh Film festival.
My short answer is, ‘Thrilled that my story has gone into another creative dimension.’
…Long answer:
A book is a bit like a child. At some stage you have to let it go out on its own.
For me, as an author, the greatest creative satisfaction is the moment of capturing the abstract idea in words, just before it goes onto the page or screen. The second satisfaction is when a reader takes those word clues and uses their own imagination to re-create an approximation of the idea I was playing with. Then it becomes their story, not mine.
The third satisfaction is when a ‘fan’ contacts me to share that something special has happened as a result of my book.
And that’s what happened with the making of this film. Pocket Bonfire film-makers Jaime Snyder and Joel Sharpe contacted me, as a result of reading their favourite book as children, and being inspired to make a film.
To me that is the greatest compliment, to offer to take my book-baby into a medium in which they are skilled, but I am not.
More than three years ago they contacted me, seeking permission. But they were student film-makers then, finishing their course at Swinburne, and I wanted any film of my book to be mainstream with no legal complications about who owned what. So we waited until they could make it as independent film-ma
0 Comments on Guest post: Hazel Edwards on “How I Feel About a Film Being Made from My Picture Book There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake” as of 1/1/1900Add a Comment