Barne’s ‘River of Freedom’ Flows to Cinemas

Feature documentary River of Freedom, directed by Gaylene Barnes (DEGANZ), premieres on 5 September before its general cinema release from the 7th.

The film gets to the heart of the 2022 COVID mandate protests, told from the inside of the movement. Gaylene and the team documented Aotearoa’s largest protest in recent history, from the nationwide convoy to the 23-day Parliament occupation. They share the stories of the protesters – who they were, why they were there, and what happened on the front lines.

To cover such an expansive protest, the team divided and conquered, documenting the movement from different parts of the country. While Gaylene went to Bluff to film the key organisers and the convoy’s inception, cinematographer Mark Lapwood captured Cape Reinga’s convoy. The film also thanks all the independent media and filmmakers who contributed.

The film is entirely crowdfunded, having raised over $100k through their Buymeacoffee campaign. The team received support from over 1,600 people with most donations spanning between $25 and $200.

Check here to see when you can catch River of Freedom in your local cinema.

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‘K Road Chronicles’ – a Celebration of the Human Spirit

K’ Road Chronicles is back for a third groundbreaking season with DEGANZ member Benjamin Murray on board as assistant editor.

The web series amplifies the voices of the homeless and impoverished in Aotearoa. It all started with transgender journalist Six, who publishes a street newspaper of the same name that shares the authentic stories of people living on Auckland’s Karangahape Road. She has since taken these stories to the screen with the docu-series. She interviews ‘streeties’ and tells their stories through a uniquely empathic lens, as she was homeless herself and called K’ Road home for many years.

Since the series’ inception in 2019, when Six wanted to explore how COVID-19 impacted people living on the streets, the show has amassed great success. While season one was produced using the NZOA minority interest fund, later seasons (still made with the support of NZOA) are presented with Stuff, bringing these stories to a more mainstream and wider audience. Yet, the show does not shy away from the taboo when discussing the realities of homelessness. Six unabashedly dives into topics of drug use and abuse, poverty, sex work, inequality, and social justice.

This season, audiences meet Raymond, a former gang enforcer who turned his life around by helping others, and Danielle, who started feeding the hungry while she was homeless. The show catches up with Mickey the Rat, a former drug dealer and addict living in a cemetery. The show also highlights efforts to ease the lives of the homeless. Episode one looks at how Orange Sky, an Australian charity, provides mobile shower and laundry services to rough sleepers.

Six writes in a Stuff article,

In this third season, K’ Road Chornicles goes even deeper, bringing forth informative, suprising, touching, and captivating stories.

Watch as season three premieres on Stuff now!

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A Local Film for Horror Genre Lovers: ‘God’s Favourites Fall Hardest’

Help DEGANZ member Brian Gill bring short film God’s Favourites Fall Hardest to life by supporting the project’s Boosted campaign. Brian is taking on multiple roles for the film as the editor and producer.

The short calls upon and pays homage to nunsploitation films, the Italian Giallo slasher murder-mystery genre, and other classic horror motifs. The 6-8 minute thriller follows an amnesiac nun working to uncover her church’s secrets against the efforts of a cult leader seeking psychological control.

While aiming to crowdfund $3,300 on Boosted, the team is also looking to various filmmaking grants, both locally and internationally. The support from the Boosted will go towards paying for the film’s shooting location (a classical Gothic church in Remuera Tāmaki Makaurau), hiring the camera department, and paying for unit and art department costs.

Boosted is all or nothing, so if the team doesn’t meet their goal, all funds return to donors. While high-risk, this strategy raises Boosted campaigns success rates by raising the stakes.

You can support Brian and the team by donating to the Boosted campaign or following them on Facebook and Instagram!

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‘Down for Love’ has Found it’s Match with Netflix

While we wait for season 2 of Down for Love, season 1 of the wholesome reality series, produced by DEGANZ board president Robyn Paterson, caught the eye of Netflix and is now internationally available on the streaming service!

As described in the show’s logline, the “heartwarming quest for love […] follows several people with Down Syndrome as they navigate the trials and triumphs of dating.” The show takes you along on a series of dates between the singletons as they search for their right match.

While adhering to the match-making reality TV genre, the series is uniquely personal to the participants due to the production’s dedication to thorough research of what each person was looking for in a partner, what sort of date activities they’d enjoy, and their plans for the future. In an interview with The Spinoff in 2022, Robyn shared that the show’s match-making strategy was based on pairing people with similar lifestyles and interests, not what would create the most drama. She commented,

[A]t the very least, if there wasn’t a romantic connection they would get a really solid friendship.

In the same interview, Robyn shared how the entire production had an extended duty of care, from comfortable scheduling for the participants to having disability-specific counsellors available. She also explained that allowing the participants control over their own stories was crucial. She said,

We really wanted people to stay in the driver’s seat of their own stories. Especially with intellectual disabilities, because people aren’t often afforded the right to tell their own stories.

Audiences were perceptive to the production’s care for the participants, causing the show to amass a strong following of viewers from its debut season.

Congrats to Robyn and the team! It’s great to see a Kiwi show earn its spot on such a popular international streaming service.

Kiwi audiences can watch season 1 of Down for Love on TVNZ+, while the rest of the world can catch it on Netflix.

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NZIFF: Arora and Brooks’ Successful Shorts

NZIFF announced the final awards and special mentions during the festival’s Wellington run, with DEGANZ members Pulkit Arora and Douglas Brooks being recognised for their mahi.

Pulkit won the hearts of audiences across the country with his short film Anu, earning him the NZ’s Best 2023 Audience award. The film’s unique perspective of a widow immigrating to Aotearoa through managed isolation proved universal with its exploration of grief. With the accolade, he will receive 25% of the box office revenue from the NZ’s Best screenings in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. This is Pulkit’s second win for Anu during NZIFF, after receiving the Creative New Zealand Emerging Talent award at the Auckland screening of the shorts programme.

Meanwhile, Douglas received a Special Mention award for Kōkako during the Wellington screening of the Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts. His short follows an aspiring ornithologist into the New Zealand bush. While searching for a thought-to-be-extinct bird, she learns of her grandmother’s death and must process the loss while isolated in the wilderness.

Congrats Pulkit and Douglas; what a great way to wrap up the awards section of the festival!

NZIFF is still running throughout Aotearoa until 10 Sept; don’t miss the chance to enjoy some great cinema in your town before it closes.

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