Two men and a bear

Teddy, a short film directed by New Zealanders Christopher Banks and produced by Andy Jalfon, screened at the recent San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival. The 13 minute film is about the romance and regret of a young man who travels from London to New Zealand to visit his ex-lover and is a refreshing, honestly told story. Banks thinks people can relate to the film’s dealing with the emptiness “we can sometimes feel when we are away from home or our loved ones.” And people seem to be connecting with the film Jalfon points out, as it just won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at New Zealand’s Out Takes Festival. Banks also says that they are working hard at finding US distribution for the film. Teddy was filmed in Helensville and Kaukapakapa, in the Rodney district, over two days in late November 2008. Banks wrote and directed the 2005 digital feature Quiet Night In.