The 90-minute film ‘Taking Back our Beach’ will be shown at Mount Maunganui from October 5, 12.Th commemoration of the founding of Rena on Astrolabe reef.
Among the audience on the opening night will be more than 200 people who have taken part in the retelling of this unique history of Tauranga, from interviewees to the production team to many supporters.
The film was previously screened at the Doc Edge Film Festival in June.
The film’s director Anton Steel said: “It was great to see the audience respond to the tragedy and the humor and triumph of the story.
“This is a film that celebrates the power of people to make a difference together and I was delighted to finally share it with an audience that enjoyed it so much.”
The comments following the two festival shows bear this out, and many said how it affected them.
“I loved seeing the blue penguins,” says one audience member.
“I had forgotten how much oil is on the beach,” says another. “When I watched the film I remembered the smell of oil, everything came back to me.”
The film was made possible thanks to the support of the community who had previously been involved in the restoration of their beach following oil and debris. “It’s like Mad Max” is how interviewee and Sun Media owner Brian Rogers described the chaos on the beach.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Holland Beckett Law, Priority One, Bay Conservation Alliance, Western Bay Wildlife Trust, Sun Media, Tauranga Marine Charters, Te Matai Investments and many others have helped bring this film to life.
To release the film in theaters in October, the makers are running a crowdfunding campaign on Givealittle as they still need to pay the television license fee.
“Anyone who can help us in this matter will receive an invitation to the opening evening on October 5,” says editor Rosalie Liddle Crawford.
“We have to pay the Getty license fee to show the film in NZ cinemas and around the world, because we are using TVNZ cinema.”
Earlier in November 2021, the developers went to the community with a crowdfunding campaign to ask for help.
“It was a success. And it led to a lot of other stories and pictures and images that we could incorporate into the film,” says Rosalie.
“We are very grateful to everyone who supports and supports this. It’s great that the community is following this. “
Rosalie says she is working on providing training related to the topics covered in the film for clubs, organizations, churches, schools, businesses and groups to use.
“They will be able to come and watch the film, and then use the themes of events and discussion points about community events, volunteerism, disaster response, connecting with iwi, the power of reconciliation and forgiveness, communities coming together, and human resilience.
When the film is released in October Rosalie says there will be an opportunity for organizations to hold their fundraising screenings at United Cinemas Bayfair with a guest – perhaps a producer, director, or interviewee from the film – for a Q&A after the screening.
‘Reclaiming Our Beach’ is on view online until July 9 as part of the Doc Edge Festival Virtual Cinema here – https://docedge.nz/films/taking-back-our-beach
To support the Givealittle campaign please click here
For more information go to www.takingbackourbeach.com
Anyone interested in booking group viewings or fundraising events for October please email info@takingbackourbeach.com
On October 5, the first Bay of Plenty film will be held at United Cinemas in Mount Maunganui, which coincides with the 12th anniversary of Rena’s launch on Astrolabe Reef.
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