Docos give insight into migrants' lives

Tauranga documentary maker Joanne Rye-McGregor has produced a series of documentaries about new settlers in Tauranga, including Jamaican-born Javon Bark. Photo / George Novak

A Tauranga documentary maker and a group of migrants want to try and change Kiwi attitudes towards new settlers through a series of documentaries.

Joanne Rye-McGregor, a film director and founder of Number 8 Wire Film Production company, has been commissioned by the Tauranga Regional Multicultural Council to produce a documentary series titled Face to Face - Seeking a New Life, three of which will screen at the Historic Village Hall tomorrow from 7pm.

It will be the premiere for two of the documentaries.

The first is titled From Russia to Love, which is about Russian-born Iryna Stewart, who met and married a Kiwi. The second, Cool Jamaican Son, features the story of 23-year-old Tauranga chef Javon Bark, who emigrated from Kingston, Jamaica, with his brother William, 18, and Kiwi-born father Brian about five years ago for a better life.

Also being screened tomorrow night is the third documentary in the series, Parashar, From the Sky to the Sea, which first screened in April 2013.

It features the story of former Tauranga migrant Parashar Adhikary who has since returned to his earthquake-ravaged homeland of Nepal.

The public screenings are part of the Multicultural Council's regular Living in Harmony events.

Mrs Rye-McGregor said the intention is to have institutions such as government agencies, schools and businesses pick up the DVD documentary series as an educational resource.

She said the main objective was to encourage people to become "more accepting" and "more appreciative" of what migrants had to offer, especially their willingness to share their "amazing cultures" and background stories.

"I hope watching these DVDs encourage people to be more friendly and welcoming. People don't know where new migrants have come from or what they have gone through, and often people are too quick to judge before they really get to know them," she said.

"Tauranga is a real treasure trove of stories ..."

Mr Bark and his family settled in Tauranga four years ago, and he gained New Zealand residency last year.

His brother William works as a builder, and his father works in healthcare.

"We moved here because my father wanted to try to give me and my brother William a better chance in life," he said.

New Zealand was a huge "culture shock" and in the early days he experienced regular incidents of racism and hoped in sharing his story things would be better for other migrants.

Tauranga Regional Multicultural Council co-ordinator Janet Smith said the council commissioned Mrs Rye-McGregor to produce the Face to Face series with the intention of offering them to businesses and community organisations to help their staff and clients better understand migrants.

"Hopefully it will encourage people to be more empathic, and want to offer a degree of support where they can to our migrant peoples," she said.

Attending the documentary screenings is free, but organisers will collect donations for Nepalese earthquake victims.