From Hawke's Bay To Berlin: This Way Of Life (PII)

This Way of Life is that rare thing – a truly quintessential Kiwi film. Shot over four years with no budget, the film follows the lives of Peter and Colleen Karena as they raise their six children on the thin edge between freedom and disaster.

The film has been selected to screen in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, one of the top five festivals in the world.

Follow the filmmakers as they blog their journey from Hawke's Bay to Berlin.

Image: Cloud South Films.

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Part 2: Someone has to say it – lives without disaster make boring movies, especially documentaries.

We were shooting the scene where Peter goes back to his burnt down family home. Amazingly he finds all their photos, virtually undamaged, even though it’s been a year. Standing on the blackened porch Pete looked at Tom behind the camera and quipped that every disaster that befell his family was great for the film.

We felt instantly guilty because we’d discussed it a few days before, allowing ourselves to savor that taste you get when you know you have something amazing in the can.

We started so innocently, planning to make a little instructional DVD on breaking in a horse, but as our friendship grew the film morphed into something else. For sure they were on board for it all and they understood innately how their travails were our gold.

But the question remains: did we balance our need for compelling footage with theirs for respect?

Is the pleasure the audience gets from watching their amazing resilience in the face of disaster voyeurism or empathy?

And for those interested (see first post) I’m going vintage. Isn’t it always the way – the perfect thing right under your nose? In this case perfect black wool tuxedo pants last worn by Tom’s dad in the 50’s. A little nip and tuck and they fit perfectly – and what high-waisted style. And they go with every-thing. And here he is - they don't come more style than this - Now for the white shirts.

For more, See:
The Blog: This Way Of Life Goes To Berlin
The Trailer: This Way Of Life (official site)
Filmmaker's Site: Cloud South Films

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