A local film for a global audience
Marlborough’s scenery has been cast as the photogenic extra in a locally made feature film destined for cinema screens around the globe. Britt Coker catches up with Marlborough director Aaron Falvey.
VISIO CREATIVE STUDIO
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bout three years ago Aaron Falvey was talking to a friend, playing the hypothetical ‘what if’ game. It was a film idea they were brain storming. Your run of the mill post-apocalyptic thinking around human motivation and “what lengths would you go to, to save someone you loved.” Aaron took the concept to Nelson scriptwriter, Justin Eade who spent several months wrapping a screenplay around it before handing it back to Aaron to make a movie out of it. From that seed of an idea, Northspur was born. Shot in Nelson and Marlborough late last year, the worldwide release of this fictional film is edging closer to reality and director Aaron, is feeling good about how it turned out. “I’m really, really happy. It’s uniquely a kiwi film. A story that focuses around strong themes of love and family and there are some real human conditions in there that everyone can relate to.” Locals may recognise some of Marlborough’s landscape in the film
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September 2020
Lights…camera…Northspur: Marlborough director, Aaron Falvey on set of Northspur.
“She said, ‘oh yeah, I’ve got a place that matches that description why don’t you come and have a look’. So from a gardener on the side of the road it turned into us shooting a film at her place for a week.”
somehow. For Aaron, that includes 18 ‘shorts’. He’s had a hankering for film making since he was nine years old but didn’t get serious about it until he was in his 30’s. He currently works full time as a video producer and it was through his experience as a sound technician for a 2014 feature film in Nelson that he met Doug Brooks. This encounter and shared love of film inspired the duo to set up the Top of the South Filmmakers Collective and start getting serious about making movies. There are currently 64 members across the region with varying degrees of skills and experience, but a united enthusiasm for film.
Although Northspur is the first feature film Aaron has directed, the complexity of such a huge project necessitates previous experience somewhere,
Aaron thinks a good director has to be a multi-talented, multi-tasker. “For me, I find having a good relationship with the cast is very important. Just making them feel like
with most of the shooting taking place in Essons Valley, Picton and Waihopai Valley, near Blenheim, predominantly on private property because it’s the easiest way to get permission for shooting. One of the main locations was a chance find by two of the crew scouting for sites who stopped to talk to a woman working out the front of her property. They explained what they were looking for.