God's Favourites Fall Hardest - Short Film

GOD'S FAVOURITES FALL HARDEST

GOD'S FAVOURITES FALL HARDEST is a 6-8 minute exploitation thriller about an AMNESIAC NUN who works to uncover the secrets of her church against the efforts of a CULT LEADER who attempts to psychologically control her.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The writer and director of this project is Faith Ward, is a 20-year-old writer, actor and director from Auckland, studying at South Seas Film School. A music video that she's directed for local Kiwi artist Jan Hellriegel, Sportsman of the Year, has received considerable success in film festival circuits both locally and abroad including the NZ Web Fest and Short plus Sweet Film Festival hosted in Australia.

Although her film hero is David Lynch, her works draw the most inspiration from classic British filmmakers such as Ken Russell and Tony Richardson.

The producer of this project is Brian Gill, an aspiring 24-year-old producer from the Philippines. His parents say that he reminds them of David Lynch, but only because when they see his face, they think of the Elephant Man.

The cinematographer for this film is Hendrikus De Vaan. He has worked in the film and animation industries since 2009. His eye for story driven imaging has seen him work as a filmmaker in both NZ and Europe, winning multiple awards along the way.

 You can view his cinematography show reel HERE

OUR CAST

Sister Bernadette is played by Tara Weston-Webb, an Auckland based actor with GCM who has been acting both on stage and on screen since she was a child. Her most recent work has been in several short films including "The Waiting Game". 

Father James played by Grae Burton, a visual / performing artist and filmmaker with over 160 artworks in the Arts House Trust Permanent Collection. He was artist in residence at Suter Gallery in Nelson (2006), Artistic Director of Nelson's Independent Theatre and Arts Centre (2007 - 2009), and Special Project Curator during his tenure as resident artist, artist liason and associate producer (2011 - 2016).

Sister Geraldine played by Sophia Kirkwood-Smith, an up-and-coming actor who has been in a host of plays from an early age and already shows outstanding potential!

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

We've planned to secure our budget via a mix of Boosted fundraising combined with applications to a variety of filmmaking grants and programmes both locally and abroad. The funds raised here would help us with:

• Hiring our shooting location of a classical Gothic Church we've scouted in Remuera
• Hiring our exceptional Director of Photography and Gaffer team combo
• Proving catering for all our lovely cast and crew
• To rent out the various props, wardrobe and other religious items necessary for our art direction

Boosted is an all-or-nothing campaign, so any and little bit would help and be sincerely appreciated!!

Director’s Statement

This project of mine has been in the works for nearly four years now, as it was the very first script I wrote. Since then, it's evolved so much, and I definitely think putting it on hold for that long and letting it develop into what it is now was a great decision. I wrote it to pay homage to nunsploitation films with shocking strong religious symbolism (such as Ken Russell's "The Devils"), and the Italian Giallo genre (and other classic horror and exploitation films), as I think that these subgenres deserve to have a renaissance, so it would be my honor to revive them.

Producer’s Statement

Faith Ward, both as an artist and as a person, continues to surprise me. Where she lacks in experience, she makes up tenfold in grit and determination. Against the tumultuous logistics of a zero-budget production, she pushed through with a four day, multi-location shoot and directed her first music video, Sportsman of the Year for local Kiwi musician, Jan Hellriegel. The success of Sportsman in film festival circuits both in New Zealand and Australia has demonstrated the indisputable glint of potential from this young Kiwi director. If she can pull all that off with a budget of zero dollars, imagine what she's capabile of with an actual budget!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT!!

 -Faith Ward and Brian Gill

Director/Producer of God's Favourites Fall Hardest