This Way of Life at the Film Archive
Award-winning Kiwi documentary This Way of Life asks whether it is possible to go back to the land, and shows a family determined to do so. The Karena family represent
a twenty first century yearning to return to a way of life closely connected to the natural environment.
Directed by Thomas Burstyn, This Way of Life was shot over four years around the Ruahine mountains and Waimarama Beach. The film follows the lives of Peter and
Colleen Karena, and their six children - and their herd of horses - who strive to create a life of simplicity in the
wilderness.
“At one point Peter sits in a tree, high above a river in the Ruahines, and describes the personalities of each of his
children in great detail, and it's truly moving… but the film resists romanticising a life that is frequently hard and
occasionally beset by tragedy… During the four years of observing the family there were also several unforeseen
disasters, all of which add great poignancy to the finished film. Before the final curtain falls there is fire, death,
theft and an attempt at violent eviction, but the film focuses on how the family deals with adversity rather than
dwelling on the distressing events themselves.” - Grant Smithies, Sunday Star Times, 28 February 2010. “This doco surprised me with its gentle emotion and engaging characters, I was transported entirely
into another way of life, This Way of Life.” - Kate Rodger, 3 News, 12 March 2010
The film won the “Best Documentary” and “Best Director” awards at the 2010 Qantas Film & Television Awards, and received a Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival.
This Way of Life screens in conjunction with The Film Archive’s mediagallery exhibition, The Natural Environment – Ko te Taiao, curated by Tina Makereti. The Natural Environment – Ko te Taiao is the first of a series of three exhibitions in the Magic Playgrounds: Historical Images of New Zealand Childhood series, in which Makereti will illuminate the social history of childhood in Aotearoa / New Zealand. The audiovisual
exhibitions look at the ways children have been represented across our nation’s filmic history - including
documentaries, television footage, home movies, feature films and rarely seen films from the early 1900s.
This Way of Life will screen at 7pm, Thursday through Saturday, June 13 - 15. At The Film Archive, 84 Taranaki St, Wellington.
Listing details: This Way of Life (2009) film screening
When: 7pm, Thursday through Saturday, 13 -15 June
Where: The New Zealand Film Archive, 84 Taranaki St, Wellington Ticket
Price: $8 public / $6 concession
ENDS