As part of the Someday Film Challenge for 2021, rising film-maker Ruby Harris' beautiful short film Pet Day is dreamy respite for tired eyes.
One of the Someday Stories' series of six short takes on sustainability by emerging young film-makers from Aotearoa New Zealand, Pet Day tells the story of kids and horses, the freedom of independence, and the uninhibited feeling of growing up in a small town in Aotearoa.
The film also explores themes of friendship, parenthood, male vulnerability, and growing up riding horses in a rural town, a way of life that is a special part of growing up here in this instance, two young horseriders living in Hokianga in Te Tai Tokerau.
“I grew up in a tiny seaside town where I would ride my horse in the park with my friends after school,” explains Ruby.
Filmed in April this year, Pet Day also features a local cast, who Ruby tapped to work with her script.
“I went home to begin writing a story that we could share, with the hope it shows off the beautiful area they live in and their riding skills, and tell the underlying story I needed to share inspired by my own experience of how our parents’ experiences affect us as kids.”
The film's pre-production was also captured and documented via stills with photographers Edith Amituanai (DA) Matt Hurley (lighting) and Nikolao Cockerell (second AC).
"When I visited we would hang out, meet at the field, take some photos and go on walks. Eventually, I applied for funding when we had a script, they chose their names and their horses' names," Ruby says about her lead characters.
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"We started with Britney and Chloe, then to our final names of Daisy and Mia. We talked through what film-making looks like as they hadn’t acted before and I hadn’t worked with horses or a big crew before. We were all pretty scared in very different ways."
"Between the story, the cast, the area and the support of friends and whānau I think we are telling a pretty special story."
Watch Pet Day here.
