The just-announced project They Are Us, to be written and directed by New Zealander Andrew Niccol (writer and co-producer of The Truman Show, writer-director of, among others, Gattaca and Good Kill) and starring Rose Byrne, focuses on the aftermath of the 2019 mass shooting and the national campaign led by Prime Minister Ardern to ban assault rifles in the country. Within a day of the news arriving, many Kiwis reacted with fury to the focus on white politicians rather than the Muslim victims and survivors, with some calling the movie “a White Saviour narrative” and launching a #TheyAreUsShutdown campaign to boycott all work on the project. (It’s not clear how many people have actually seen the script.) – The Hollywood Reporter
