Young filmmaker tackles drink-driving

BY CHRISTOPHER ADAMS

The fire brigade giving a group of teenagers the go-ahead to attack a parked car with a sledgehammer might be a little unusual.

But that was exactly what happened when Glendowie College students made a short film recently.

The film, directed by Hohepa Hemara, 17, took out the top prize in the National Secondary Schools Anti-Drink Drive Competition.

Hohepa says the idea behind the film, which beat 14 other entries from around the country to win the competition, was to explain the dangers of drink driving to teenagers.

"The movie is about highlighting the major issues that face teenagers these days, which are peer pressure and drink driving," he says.

Shattered opens with a scene where a person lies dying in a car wreck, before the plot backtracks to an earlier party scene, where the boyfriend of a teenage girl pressures her into driving while drunk.

The film closes with the funeral of the person killed in the crash.

"Youth drink driving is an issue," says Hohepa.

"I think this film helps to address this issue."

Staff from the Panmure fire station and officers from the Glen Innes police station came on board to take part in the accident scene.

The fire station provided the car which the budding filmmakers attacked with a sledgehammer to make the crash scene look realistic.

Police officers set up a cordon around the car while the scene was being
filmed.

"The fire brigade and police helped us out a lot with the crash scene," says Hohepa.

Classmates Mike Vass and Brennain Harland, both 18, also took part in the production of the film.

"Watching the police and fire brigade pretending they had a real crash was the best part," says Mike.

Brennain, who knew a 20-year-old who died in an alcohol-related crash, says Shattered was the first film he had worked on that had "real meaning".

"The film does show the meaning of what it is like to drink drive, and how you can lose a loved one so easily."

Glendowie College received $1000 in prize money for the winning film, while $750 went to Hohepa.

"I gave Mike and Brennain $100 each and the rest goes towards my next film," he says.

Hohepa is planning to study film after finishing high school this year.

Police Minister Judith Collins has a copy of Shattered, and is pushing for the film to be used in a nationwide anti-drink driving television campaign, he says.

- © Fairfax NZ News