6 October 2023, Issue 1180
Rena on the big screen A Tauranga family who lost everything in the 2011 Rena environmental disaster are reliving the experience all over again, this time on the big screen. The film ‘Taking Back Our Beach’, about the local Bay of Plenty community’s response to the coastal disaster, is being
screened from October 5, the 12th anniversary of the grounding. Craig Fellows (pictured) and his family were waiting for their possessions to arrive by ship from Australia when they heard the disastrous news. The ship carrying their container along with 1367 other containers had run aground.
“We tracked the Rena’s progress and were waiting for it to dock in Tauranga,” says Craig. “It wasn’t until the news broke at lunchtime that we found out it had hit the reef. Telling the children was very hard because we were all expecting to get our goods.” ‘Taking Back our Beach’ is now screening at
cinemas across the Bay of Plenty, including United Cinemas Bayfair, Luxe Cinemas, Whakamax, Katch Katikati, Opotiki’s De Luxe Theatre, Rotorua’s Basement Cinema as well as more than 20 cinemas NZ-wide. Read the story in full on page 4. Photo: John Borren.