This wonderful documentary won the 1st Jury Prize and the Youth Jury Prize at the Festival International du Film Documentaire Océanien (FIFO) recently. Congratulations to director Briar March, producer Leanne Pooley, editor Margot Francis and cinematographer Mark Lapwood.
If you haven't seen it on the big screen, you can catch it on the small one - rent or buy on various platforms at this link.
The feature-length film tells the extraordinary story of four-time Olympic shot put champion Dame Valerie Adams, a Kiwi icon, Tongan leader, a mother, a daughter, a sister and a survivor.
Competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games required all the shotputter’s determination and courage. At 36, she was considered an ‘older’ athlete.
Woven around observational scenes of Dame Valerie’s journey to Tokyo, is her astonishing backstory. Over the course of 25 years Valerie has conquered adversity time and time again. She was bullied at school. She competed barefoot at her first shotput competition because she couldn’t afford shoes. At just 15 she nursed her dying mother while watching the Sydney 2000 Olympics on TV…the moment that inspired her Olympic dream.
Read our interview with director Briar March on directing Dame Valerie Adams: More Than Gold