A native of the Aro Street community, Campbell Walker's third digital "indie" Little Bits of Light premiered in Wellington overnight. SHAHIR DAUD was there to sample the director's latest creation.


WITH NEW ZEALAND filmmaking speeding forward with international co-productions and foreign blockbusters dominating the landscape, it would be easy for a unique New Zealand cinematic voice to get lost, and swept under the push for commercial filmmaking in this country.

Thankfully then, the independent spirit is still alive and well in the Aro Street filmmaking community. I'm using the term independent rather loosely though, since Campbell Walker's latest film is funded through the New Zealand Film Commission and Creative New Zealand, but since the term 'independent filmmaker' gets tossed around without much thought, I'll stick with it. But I'd like to point out a slightly older reference to independent filmmaking that I'm sure Walker would be happy to be associated with; John Cassavetes. It's been almost 50 years since Cassavetes pioneered in the independent filmmaking scene with Shadows, and filmmaking hasn't been the same since. Walker, a Cassavetes aficionado, brings that independent spirit and integrity to his third feature Little Bits of Light which had its world premiere at the Telecom New Zealand International Film Festivals last night.

Little Bits of Light is every bit a Campbell Walker film, focussing on intimate relationships, punctuated with long contemplative pauses, and as he calls it "incremental changes over long periods of time". This time around Walker pushes his performers to their limits, forcing them to deliver emotionally raw and vivid performances that will linger in your mind long after the credits roll. Alex (Rob Jerram) and Helen (Nia Robyn) decide to take a mental health vacation of sorts in the barren Taranaki countryside. Alex struggles to cope with Helens incapacitating depression coupled with bouts of self-mutilation and impending suicide. It's a relatively thin story, but Walker's never been interested in convoluted plotting. Instead, he meticulously dissects and interrogates every facet of their relationship; often leaving the camera running for extended long takes as Alex and Helen painfully expose their most intimate moments in a way few filmmakers have ever achieved. That the story is openly acknowledged to be based on Walker and co-screenwriter Grace C. Russell's relationship makes the portrayal of depression and love all the more potent.

What's missing though is Walker's sense of humour, memorable in his equally challenging 1999 debut Uncomfortable, Comfortable. It may be a reflection of the far more sullen subject matter, but Little Bits of Light seems to be a far more cathartic experience than any of Walker's previous films. Its conclusion is bittersweet and heartfelt, an uneasy resolution that adroitly focuses on slight changes rather than the kind of life affirming saccharine we'd expect from a lesser filmmaker.

Walker also achieves a kind of integrity and truth rarely seen on screens, uncluttered by any sense of artificiality. This is aided by the gorgeous digital video images that would have the Dogma '95 crew drooling in the aisles. But unlike the Dogma crowd, Walker's work has never conformed to any standard or formula, except his own. And for that, he, like his New Zealand contemporaries Gregory King and Florian Habicht are a godsend to our growing filmmaking community. Little Bits of Light should be on everyone's must see list at this year's festival.