DIRECTOR
Holly Beckham
“Kia ora, I am a recovering addict I have spent the past 19 years struggling with addiction. You could say I was struggling with disconnection from my wairua and loss of beliefs. I finally decided to reach out for help and my road to recovery started. I want to share with others, through the power of documentary, that we are in this waka together and that we can help / tautoko each other by sharing our stories.
Through this interview-driven documentary we follow the stories of two wāhine toa: Rochelle Van Niekerk, 32 years old, married with children, who decided to get clean with her husband; and her sister, Jesse Tahau, a health worker who has had her own struggles with addiction, and experienced addiction from the other side, supporting her sister, father and ex-husband.
We also hear from Dame Naida Glavish DNZM, who shares the history of Aotearoa and brings to light the long-forgotten traditions and values our tupuna lived by.
The stories in this documentary will show others that there is another way of experiencing life - He Ara Anō – the way of recovery. Addiction is living within our whanau and communities; it is now time we share our stories to help heal one another.”
CREW
VITA REYNOLDS
Born and raised in central Auckland, Vita discovered her passion for film through the varied beauty and contrast she discovered in her global travels.
Her experiences meeting people across a vast range of countries allowed her to understand a global human connection, and how across languages and cultures we can share the joy in both our differences and similarities.
In her body of work as a filmmaker she employs techniques in camera, lighting and audio as her universal language to translate these stories into film and ultimately connect people where distance and difference fail to.
KELLY WEAVER
Kelly Weaver was born and raised in Christchurch and has called Auckland home since 2009. He has been passionate about film and television since childhood, with a particular interest in editing and the power it has bringing stories to life.
Whilst working various customer service jobs, he kept his creative juices flowing through his hobby of cosplay and dabbling in a bit of writing and video editing.
In 2020 he seized the opportunity to turn his passion into a future career by studying at South Seas Film & Television School, specialising in Post-production.
DANIEL NATHAN KAPOKI
Dan first found his passion for film through documenting skateboarding on his SonyVX1000 that goes by MiniDV tape & learning a process for capturing footage & editing that footage.
Dan is always striving to be better at what he does with every experience & who is willing to take the time to learn techniques in film & outside of film.
He has always been drawn to anything creative which has opened a path into film so in 2020, Dan decided to study film full time at South Seas Film & Television School on, specialising in camera lighting & audio.
BEN HOWARD
Born in Palmerston North, bred in Auckland, and developed overseas. In 2019 after years travelling the world and scampering up the corporate ladder to nowhere,
Ben Howard decided to follow his true calling. Ben sees himself as an artist first and foremost and has chosen film as his preferred medium due its emotive possibilities.
With a deep-set self-belief backed up by a solid work ethic, Ben is willing to take on any challenge that will move him forward creatively and bring his ideas and visions to the screen.
