Sport Doco Fans Delight! ‘Wheel Blacks: Bodies on the Line’ and ‘Grit & Glory’ Out Now
DEGANZ members have been working away over the past couple of years to bring about new documentary projects focusing on some of Aoteatroa’s top para-athletes and their hopes to qualify for the 2024 Paralympics.
Wheel Blacks: Bodies on the Line
Created by DEGANZ board president Robyn Paterson and fellow member Jai Waite with their production company Sweet Productions, the three-part docuseries follows Aotearoa’s wheelchair rugby team in their bid to qualify for the Paris Paralympics. Despite having to rely on fundraising, charity, and volunteers, the Wheel Blacks are not only fighting for a chance in Paris but also for the future of the sport that has transformed their lives and is a source of inspiration for many.
The series shows the behind-the-scenes of the sport and team, as the players juggle work, family, training, and life with a disability. Ultimately, the series is a story of grit, determination, passion, and hope.
Directed by Robyn and edited by Jai, the creative team has a strong connection with the topic. Jai is a former Wheel Blacks and was on the team when it won gold at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.
Wheel Blacks: Bodies on the Line is available on Neon and Sky Go now!
Grit & Glory
Directed by Dan Salmon (DEGANZ) and edited by fellow member Emma Patterson, Grit & Glory offers insight into the lives of six NZ athletes as they strive for the 2024 Paralympics.
Following the athletes across two years, the documentary highlights the unique highs and lows of the gruelling process of training and qualifying for the Paralympic Games. From cyclists to swimmers to track runners and a long jumper, the featured athletes share their stories and how they’ve gotten to where they are now. While some are world record holders and have competed at the Games before, others are working to qualify for the first time, pushing themselves farther than ever before.
In an interview with the NZ Herald, executive producer and field director Robyn Scott-Vincent expresses the documentary’s aim to demonstrate that the para-athletes are elite sportsmen, pursuing their sport at an elite level saying,
When you watch the games you don’t understand a lot about the back story. You should by the end of [the documentary] really champion these athletes and know what it’s really been like for them to get there. They absolutely meet their challenges every day head on and they’re not asking for sympathy.
Grit & Glory is available on TVNZ+ now!
Last updated on 28 August 2024
