This Way of Life is an independent documentary film about a young Maori couple and the struggles and joys associated with raising their six children in the wilderness of New Zealand.

In their early 30’s, Peter and Colleen Karena have six kids and 50 horses. Against the backdrop of a remote New Zealand mountain range and a hidden beach camp, we explore the Karena’s connection to nature, their survival skills and intimacy with each other and their horses as they attempt to navigate the discord between Peter and his father.

Despite hardships, the family cultivates magic in the everyday. Untamed and unafraid, the idea of risk is alien to the Karena children. Uniting philosophy with circumstance, This Way of Life is a modern parable of how to live well with little.

Featured portions of the film include the birth of a child, an unfortunate miscarriage, the burning of their family home, the theft of horses and seven-year-old Aurora riding a stallion bareback with only a rope halter.

This Way of Life is having enormous success overseas, selling out all 1000-seat screenings at the Berlin Film Festival in just three days. The Berlin Festival programme describes it as a film about “family life in New Zealand. Except that this is no ordinary family.”

“It’s almost as if the word ‘risk’ doesn’t exist for them: barefoot, bareback and without reins or riding hat is for instance the way the Karena’s six-year-old daughter gallops across the New Zealand prairie. Some people may think that the Karenas live a life of poverty. But this isn’t true. This Way of Life is a film about freedom.”

The message of a life lived outside a world of consumerism has resonated around the world, seeing the film also chosen for official selection at the Palm Springs International Festival, which sold out a week before showing, and screening to sell out houses at both the New Zealand and Vancouver International Film Festivals.

This unprecedented success for a self-funded independent film has been further enhanced by the securing of both European and New Zealand distribution.

This Way of Life is the second feature documentary for Hawke’s Bay producer/director duo Barbara Sumner Burstyn and Tom Burstyn, and will begin its New Zealand run in cinemas around the country on March 11.

To view a trailer and find out more about the movie you can go to This Way of Life’s website.

Also, be sure to check out their Berlin blog at http://cloudsouthfilms.blogspot.com/

Director and Cinematographer: Tom Burstyn
Producer: Barbara Sumner Burstyn

Editor: Cushla Dillon

Running Time: 85 minutes

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