A Place to Call Home

Overview

Briar March is a talented local filmmaker who is committed to telling stories that really matter, stories that shine light upon issues many politicians would prefer swept under the rug. She studied Fine Arts at Elam, and then completed the prestigious Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Film and Video at Stanford University. Best known for her feature film There Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho, about the effects of climate change on the small atoll of Takuu, she presents her latest full length offering at the Documentary Edge Festival this year.

A Place to Call Home documents the fight to stop evictions in Glenn Innes, where many state houses have been sold to make way for a privatised Special Housing Area. This has displaced many long-term tenants and sliced up the community. The film follows the proceedings from the viewpoints of two women—one fighting to keep the homes, the other waiting to take the houses  and relocate them, to provide for families in need up north. It's a complex situation, but with Auckland's affordable housing crisis taking a prominent spot in the daily news, it's one that is good to get familiar with.