Premiere of 'Taking Back Our Beach'

About This Event

When disaster strikes, a community rises!

In the face of New Zealand's largest pollution disaster, a community unites to save their treasured coast, but divisions grow with the ongoing fight to remove the wreckage and restore the environment.

Taking Back Our Beach is a 90 minute feature film documentary that looks at the Bay of Plenty community’s response to the 2011 MV Rena grounding on Òtàiti / Astrolabe Reef and the subsequent oil and debris disaster, as seen through the eyes of that community.

Director Anton Steel and producer Rosalie Liddle Crawford have woven together this story from 33 diverse interviewees, focusing on the ongoing impact of this tragedy to the Bay of Plenty community, and the seeds of hope that have grown from it. There are many unfolding layers to this story, and while there are moments of tears, there are also moments of laughter. This film offers closure to an event that affected over 8000 volunteers and countless more in the wider community.

Never before seen archival footage, amazing photos, re-enactments and computer generated imagery bring this community's stories to life, and paint a picture of “a great moment in human history” - Interviewee Brian Rogers.

“It’s our beach. We’re taking ownership” – Interviewee Sue Behrens

When the MV Rena grounded on Ōtāiti (Astrolabe reef) on 5 October 2011 it wasn’t just the iconic New Zealand coastline and wildlife that were threatened by the ensuing black waves of oil and debris, but also a lifestyle treasured by its residents. The disaster reveals a deep connection to the environment in both local Māori and Pakeha (European descendants) alike. 

In the aftermath of the clean-up, a further battle to remove the remains of the wreck ensues, with this newfound community unity threatened through the overpowering insurers and ship owners. The mauri (life force) of a national taonga (treasure) Ōtāiti is forever altered, but a simple act of forgiveness, shown to the ship’s scapegoated Filipino crew, offers a beautiful way forward to growth and recovery.

From a septuagenarian widow chasing an oiled penguin around her living room, to a 6-metre long barbecue feeding volunteers for free, to youth impersonating army personnel in order to be allowed onto the beach to clean up oil, the documentary is made up of interviews with 33 local people (iwi, retirees, volunteers, wildlife leaders, marine experts, small business owners and community leaders).