Next Year In Jerusalem

Yesterday I attended the first public showing of a doco I've been working on for the last five years, editing and producing. It's the story of a play about NZ poet James K Baxter, and the group of people who defied the odds to take the play around New Zealand and to the Edinburgh festival.

The doco weaves together the failed dreams of Baxter to establish a community, and his haunting presence with the cast and crew while they, 30 years after his death, sought to bring his message back to life. The making of the documentary had been beset with various difficulties, not the least of which being a certain cameraman who managed to record over the irreplaceable tapes of the journey.

Nevertheless, yesterday was the launch of the 60 min film, and it was an outrageous success. I was prepared for many reactions, but not the enthusiastic endorsement of it which came from audience members.

I found it very affirming. Especially seeing I was cringing throughout the screening, aware of all the glitches and shortcomings. It renewed my belief that story is king - that if there is a narrative heart to a film, the audience will be very forgiving.

The title, Next Year In Jerusalem, is a play on words. Baxter's community was in the small New Zealand town of Jerusalem. But the phrase is also a refrain from those caught up in the Jewish diaspora, and represents their profound and enduring dream. The doco examines the role that people's dreams have on their lives, if in a somewhat tangental way.

The filming of The Insatiable Moon is a seven year dream. At many times it has seemed an impossible dream. Yesterday's screening has helped me to maintain the hope that the cameras will roll this year.