The conflicts of Gloriavale
The latest instalment of life in the closed community is predicted to cause another ruckus, writes Chris Schulz.
They’ve already made two toprating documentaries about the residents of Gloriavale, the controversial South Island Christian community that lives segregated from the outside world.
But the husband-and-wife team behind the award-winning series admit they have differing opinions about how Gloriavale’s God-fearing residents live their lives.
Amanda Evans, the show’s director and producer, feels as conflicted as the viewers who flood social media sites with inflammatory comments after her documentaries air.
“I’m agnostic, I’m a feminist, I could easily make judgments about them,” says Evans, who has grown close to Gloriavale’s residents over the seven years she’s been documenting their lives.
“Sometimes I think, ‘That’s so cool. Isn’t that lovely? Ten minutes later, I think, ‘Oh, I could never live like that. That’s so vile on so many levels.’
“An hour later I’m thinking, ‘ Oh wow, that’s so neat, I could really live here.”
Meanwhile, as the show’s cameraman, Evans’ partner Ivars Berzins tries to stay as impartial.
“I try not to have opinions,” he says. “The way I best do my job is to observe and record by being as open to other people’s way of thinking as I can.”
Gloriavale’s residents certainly have a different take on things.
Based near the South Island’s idyllic Lake Haupiri, the Christian community’s 500-odd residents live their lives unlike the rest of us.
There is little contact with the outside world, access to media and the internet is heavily restricted, limits are placed on clothing and diets, marriages are arranged informally and, if anyone decides to leave they are excommunicated.
Previous instalments of the NZ On Air-funded series, starting with A World Apart in 2014 and followed by Life and Death last year, have caused a ruckus, sparking multiple headlines — including Campbell
Live’s riveting coverage of several former members who had fled the clutches of the community to start their lives over.
Evans and Berzins believe their latest instalment, called A Woman’s Place, which focuses on Gloriavale’s “openly submissive” female residents and their role in the community, is likely to do the same.
It dives deep into the male-dominated society, following the roles of women who are relegated to kitchen or laundry duties while men do more physical activities, such as building or factory work.
Much of its screen time is devoted to Dove Love, a 22-year-old kitchen manager, who is preparing for her upcoming wedding to 17-year-old apprentice builder Watchful Stedfast.
When asked by the documentary makers about his upcoming nuptials, Stedfast says: “She’s willing to submit to me, which I feel is very important for a marriage to last.”
Evans knows statements like this, when framed against contemporary society, will shock viewers.
“They’re a lovely young couple and I just know people are going to get on Twitter and bag them,” she says. “People can be incredibly vicious [and] those girls haven’t asked for this attention.
“[Gloriavale] is putting these people out to represent the community and exposing them personally to all sorts of things.”
Berzins admits they both feel guilt for the attention their documentaries bring to Gloriavale.
“The ladies who answer the phones in the reception area . . . they get massive amounts of prank calls [after each episode airs]. I think that’s one of the things they don’t look forward to.”
The couple, and sound engineer Tony Spear, film for two or three days at a time, needing around six visits to complete each 40- to 50-minute documentary.
Mostly, they say, residents have grown used to them and are happy to have their cameras around.
Love, the main subject in A Women’s Place, says she didn’t always enjoy their presence.
She’s willing to submit to me, which I feel is very important for a marriage to last. Watchful Stedfast