Stories of survival:
Survivors of the Whakaari/White Island eruption share their stories in a new Three documentary. Kerry Harvey reports.
Survivors of the Whakaari/White Island
eruption share their stories.
Adocumentary looking at the aftermath of the Whakaari/White Island eruption screens on Three this week, less than a month before the first anniversary of the natural disaster that claimed 21 lives.
“It’s pretty emotional,” says filmmaker Irene Chapple of The Eruption: Stories Of Survival. But is it too soon? “I don’t think I can answer that,” she says. “It’s nearly a year on, but what I will say is people have trusted us with their stories and they felt ready to speak. They are ready to share elements of what they’ve been through.”
There were 47 people – made up of international tourists from the cruise ship Ovation Of The Seas plus local guides – on the volcanic island off the coast from Whakatane when the eruption happened just after 2pm, on December 9 last year. Twenty one people were killed, including two who are still missing, and many of the survivors are still recovering from severe burns. A WorkSafe investigation into the tragedy is ongoing and some survivors and victims’ families have launched legal action overseas against the ship’s owners Royal Caribbean. Chapple, an experienced journalist, producer and filmmaker, was working as a freelancer on The Project on the day of the eruption. She was immediately drawn to the story and moved quickly to secure NZ On Air funding to investigate the effects the disaster had, particularly on the local Whakatane community. “From the moment I heard about this story, I was absolutely
astounded and impressed by the heroism of the local people,” she says. “I found it fascinating what people had done in this time of crisis, how they had responded.
“This is part of New Zealand history so, to me, it was a really important story to tell – what happened that day and what happened next to those people involved.
“Whakatane’s a small town and they all know each other and they all came together to help in this tragedy.
“The more I went into the story, the more people I spoke to, the more I saw the strength of spirit from a small New Zealand town.”
Chapple was able to talk extensively with teenage survivor Jake Milbank who was one of the guides on the island that day. The family of fellow guide, 40-year-old Hayden Marshall-Inman – one of the two people still missing – also contributed to the documentary.
“So they are really what this film is all about,” Chapple says.
“However, there is also a beat-by-beat what happened on the day and in the immediate aftermath, at Whakatane Hospital, at Middlemore Hospital.
“We then go through the recovery of the bodies that remained on the island and we speak to the SAS soldier who led that team.”
What The Eruption: Stories Of Survival does not try to do is apportion blame.
“This film was never going to be an exploration into the investigation and, if it had been, I don’t think we’d have ultimately been talking to the same people because they wouldn’t have wanted to participate because it’s so sensitive,” Chapple says. “Everyone is extremely aware of the workplace investigation, which is very active at the moment. “We do touch on it. I would say the film critiques certain aspects of the structure that ultimately led to what happened, but it is not a driving force for our film.” She hopes viewers will react the same way she did to hearing the stories of both the survivors and those of the victims’ families. “I was very drawn to the people and I think (viewers) will feel a bit connected with them because the guide we interview and the family of Hayden, they’re just so honest and brave in how they share things,” she says. “It was really lovely to see but, beyond that, I think we’re raising broader questions around risk, and what we as a country do, and what we’re comfortable with and our relationship with the land. Yes, it’s a live volcano but it’s also an accessible, extraordinary landscape. “I think it will trigger thinking around, ‘Would I be comfortable doing that? What is my tolerance for risk? Do I believe seeing an extraordinary landscape is worth it for me in terms of learning and experiencing mother nature?’ “I think that’s an inevitable take away from this film.”