John Stainton (Koriata) flew in from Wellington this afternoon for 24 hours of intensive shooting. Early work on the rough cut of Rere's Children identified the need to increase the dramatic tension of the climactic scenes where Koriata has to decide if he is prepared to risk his life to do the right thing. A priority of this shoot is to make these scenes as powerful and heart rending as possible.

It was straight down to work on John's arrival with some emotional and moving scenes in gangland. Koriata’s naive attempts to bring down the gang result in tragedy to those closest to him. Tonight’s scenes see Koriata with blood on his hands - literally - as he confronts his friend Alice (Lisa Beach), whose life is destroyed by Koriata’s actions.


A desperate Koriata (John Stainton) looks at the lights of Gisborne from Kaiti Hill as he contemplates his inner turmoil.

Koriata’s Way was an early working title for the final film in the Amiri & Aroha trilogy. Koriata’s journey from the son of a gang president to a business leader and company director is no ordinary rags to riches story. Koriata’s desire to shed his gangland roots and follow his own path is fraught with danger and will reveal some sinister secrets.

I was determined that this shoot would take Koriata out of his comfort zone. After the intense scene with Lisa Beach and the gangsters, I took John up to Kaiti Hill for a night shoot, where Koriata must face his demons and decide if he is going to do the right thing. Tonight’s shoot captured some raw emotion and will make Rere’s Children a much more powerful drama.