Faster Than Fear

Faster Than Fear is a short creative documentary exploring the psychology of motorbike riding where thrill meets danger, freedom meets control, and grief meets speed. Set in Aotearoa New Zealand, the film follows riders at all levels, from world champions to everyday commuters, asking: can you outrun the fear that rides with you? 

We’re raising funds to complete production and post-production, and to ensure this story reaches audiences on screens and at festivals across the country.

I’m Brooke Darrow, a filmmaker based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, currently completing my Master of Fine Arts in Film at Victoria University of Wellington. My creative practice is rooted in documentary storytelling - I’m drawn to stories that sit at the intersection of emotion and adrenaline, often exploring risk, identity, and movement.

Faster Than Fear is my thesis project and personal passion. I grew up around motorbikes and have always been fascinated by the psychology behind why we ride, especially when we know how dangerous it can be.

I'm working alongside a small, dedicated team of cinematographers, sound designers, and editors - most emerging creatives within the MFA, committed to producing bold, meaningful work. Together, we're capturing the spirit of Aotearoa’s motorcycling scene in a way that’s both cinematic and intimate, while maintaining empathy and sensitivity.

We’re raising funds to support the production of Faster Than Fear helping us capture the interviews and bring the film to audiences through festivals and community screenings.

Your support will go directly toward:

• Travel costs and fuel - to reach riders across Aotearoa
• Location support - permits and logistics for filming in public and private spaces
• Catering - keeping our small crew and contributors fed on shoot days
• Festival submissions - to share the film with wider audiences
• Marketing materials - for promotion and outreach, including a trailer, posters, and social assets

Any funds that aren’t used in production will be donated to initiatives that help riders access education around safer riding practices. This way, your support not only helps tell the story - it actively contributes to making riding in Aotearoa safer.

At its heart, Faster Than Fear is about confronting the emotional undercurrents of risk. The film uses observational cinematography and intimate interviews to explore the unspoken: the tension between control and chaos, the weight of past crashes, and the pull of the open road.

The story unfolds through the lived experiences of its subjects. We’re filming on real rides, at racetracks, dealerships, in garages and homes capturing the unfiltered rhythm of life on two wheels.

The project is stylistically influenced by kinetic and atmospheric documentary traditions, leaning into sound, silence, and movement as storytelling tools. It’s a film about riding, yes - but also about the internal landscapes we navigate when we dance with danger, chase clarity, or carry loss.

Through this project, I hope to open up conversations around fear, masculinity, grief, and why speed sometimes feels like the only way forward.

Faster Than Fear opens up a conversation that often stays hidden behind helmets. It looks beyond the adrenaline and into the emotional core of riding the grief, the healing, the obsession, and the quiet clarity that bikes can bring.

Motorcycling is a powerful part of life for many New Zealanders, yet the stories behind the ride are rarely given space on screen. This film gives voice to a community that lives with risk daily, and to the deeper reasons people choose to ride despite often-dark experiences.

By supporting this project, you’re helping to amplify perspectives that matter - not just for riders, but for anyone navigating fear, loss, or the need to feel free. You’re backing a story that has the potential to spark understanding, shift conversations around road safety, and honour a way of life that’s fast, fierce, and full of feeling.

Help support a film that speaks to the heart of riding - and the human drive to keep going, no matter the risk.