Christian Zyp interviews Alex Lamb and Max Well (co-directors/co-producers) about the documentary THE DONN OF TIKI. It is the Opening Night film for CUFF.Docs on Wednesday November 20th, 2024 at 6:30pm at the Globe Cinema in Calgary. Max Well will be in attendance for a post screening Q&A.
THE DONN OF TIKI is the incredulous story of Donn Beach, creator of the Tiki Bar, and perhaps the most important influencer of modern-day cocktails and bar aesthetics. Better known as "Don the Beachcomber," Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt was an American maverick famous for telling entertaining, if unverifiable, stories about his life. There are slivers of truth to his tales – a youth spent in Jamaica, running rum during prohibition, hunting down cigars and liquor for troops in World War II. By combining audio from a 1986 interview with stop-motion animation reminiscent of a 1960s Christmas special, Donn comes to life. As we learn about Donn's travels through The South Seas, bootlegging in 1920s Hollywood, scavenging for liquor in Europe during WWII, and creating authentic travel experiences in Hawaii in the 1950s, we begin to understand who he was as a person, what drove him to do the things he did, and how his influence is still felt today.