Young documentary maker loses leukaemia battle

A young Wellington film-maker who moved audiences with a documentary on his battle with cancer has died.

Kurt Filiga, 20, died surrounded by family and friends in Wellington Hospital about 5am yesterday, family friend Elishka Graham said.

One of the last things he did before entering hospital with an infection was to speak at a private showing of his documentary, Kurt-E: In My Blood, late last month. He received a rave review for the film by award-winning Six Dollar Fifty Man director Louis Sutherland in The Dominion Post.

"That meant a lot to him, that there was a positive review in the paper," Mrs Graham said. "Having that whole process, that meant an enormous amount to him.

"That he had achieved something he had always wanted to do. He was so thrilled."

There was "international interest" in the film from other festivals, she said.

Kurt, who had been in Mary Potter Hospice, went home after last month's showing but contracted an infection after a couple of days and was taken to Wellington Hospital, where he had been since. He later developed more infections.

"His body just couldn't do it any more."

His brother Karlos, a Parramatta Eels rugby league player, returned home late on Thursday night.

"Kurt was hanging out for Karlos to get back."

The family were going through enormous grief, Mrs Graham said yesterday.

"They are coping as people do in a crisis."

Kurt Filiga was diagnosed with leukaemia last November while a media student at Victoria University. With the help of Park Rd Post he was making a documentary that was to be a tale of triumph over a debilitating disease.

Instead, it became the tale of a young man dying.

Sutherland – who won awards at the Sundance, Cannes, and Berlin film festivals with the short film he co-directed, Six Dollar Fifty Man – said In My Blood was "as genuine and visceral as documentary making gets".

"In 15 minutes, what starts with hope and determination dwindles as modern medicine runs out of options – 15 minutes feels like a lifetime.

"And among the shaky handheld camera work at all hours, there is Kurt. Still, quiet, determined – the picture of strength, and his only concern as the film reaches its peak is how his mother will be without him."

- © Fairfax NZ News