Zen & the Art of Dying had its World Premiere on March 14, 2015 as the Closing Night Gala film of the 2015 Byron Bay International Film Festival. As Byron is the community the film documents, it was a sell-out crowd with all the film’s participants in attendance. Zenith Virago, the film’s central subject, chose to wait and watch the film for the first time surrounded by the community she serves, which was both exciting and nerve-wracking for filmmaker Broderick Fox and producer Lee Biolos, but as the pictures below attest, they could not have imagined a more heartfelt response from Virago and the community. Fox gave special thanks to the Byron Bay International Film Festival for their continued support and for being a part of the film’s genesis: he met Virago at the Byron Bay International Film Festival’s world premiere of his last feature documentary The Skin I’m In back in 2012.
The film received a range of press coverage, including a great review by Giuliana Cincotta for Film Ink, and Fox was a featured radio guest on Bay FM’s The Elephant Room with Nyck Jeanes.
Thanks to Lyn McCarthy/Niche Pictures for capturing these great shots of the premiere!
Producer Lee Biolos, Zenith Virago, and director Broderick Fox at the Zen & the Art of Dying Premiere. Photo by Lyn McCarthy/Niche Pictures.
Zenith Virago in front of a sold-out crowd at the Zen & the Art of Dying Premiere. Photo by Lyn McCarthy/Niche Pictures.
Two thumbs up from Zenith Virago at the Zen & the Art of Dying Premiere with director Broderick Fox and producer Lee Biolos Photo by Lyn McCarthy/Niche Pictures.