Milk movie among the cream of the crop at top global film fest
It was lockdown that kicked off a feeling inside director and part-time farmer Celia Jaspers that the world needed a bit of light.
It’s mid-week in Wellington and a Sydney traveller with Covid-19 has kicked the capital back into level 2. The city is on edge and the streets empty out. It’s a fitting time to be recalling lockdown level 4, just a year before in 2020, when Jaspers was home with the kids in the small Wairarapa village of Martinborough.
There she was juggling home-schooling, editing episodes of Country Calendar, which she directs, and dreaming up new ways to keep the family entertained. A light went on when the annual New Zealand 48-hour film festival called for entries.
‘‘Everyone’s home, this is the time to give it a go,’’ says a fast-talking Jasper over Zoom. Having worked in the television and film industry for 30 years, (she’s been with the popular Country Calendar for six) Jasper is a media veteran, but in TV there’s not a lot of your own narrative to build into a script and with many short films bordering on bleak –
and a world in turmoil with the pandemic – Jaspers turned her attention to letting the light in. ‘‘Life’s hard for many people at the moment, but I wanted to show that there’s still some humanity and compassion in the world, and warmth.’’
The fruits of that lockdown labour, Home School, won best family film at the 48-hour festival, and a few international festival awards too, but Jaspers wasn’t quite done. Another idea quickly formed, one underpinned by kindness. Jaspers typed out in one hit
the story of a girl who foregoes her hardearned treats at the local dairy to instead buy an elderly man some milk. ‘‘I had a tear as I wrote it,’’ admits Jaspers. ‘‘I thought, ‘that’s got some power’.’’
At the local village pub a short time later, Jaspers confided in friend and finance CEO Auriga Martin of her idea. Martin was on board, and soon they’d also enlisted fellow working mother and producer Juanita Deely. Before long, a television menagerie was on board, and the film became a self-fulfilling kindness prophecy – with crew offering help from as far afield as Auckland and Christchurch. A Martinborough cafe provided its setting, and local businesses offered support.
Filming took place in spring of 2020 with Jaspers’ daughter, Charlotte – then eight – taking the starring role. Shooting in Martinborough was a no-brainer, says Jaspers. Just over an hour’s drive from central Wellington, the rural wine village has an impressive town square, boutique stores and scenic roads. That fuelled a feeling in Jaspers that she wanted the overall film to be warm, and inviting, citing the cinematography of Netflix series Sweet Tooth as an example.
Since then, Milk has been accepted into 12 international film festivals, including the pick of the bunch, the LA Shorts, one of the few Oscar-qualifying festivals in the world (Jaspers says she’s realistic about their chances).
Prestige aside, though, Jaspers and her co-producers are perhaps most proud that the flick has been pulled together and championed by three working mums Jaspers, Martin and Deely - with their children also taking a role in production – bucking the idea that family and work can’t mix. The crew has an even gender balance, which Jaspers says is unheard of for a commercial film. That included visual effects artist Gemma Cooper, who worked on the Avengers franchise, and hair and makeup artist Gail Watson, whose credits include Lord of the Rings.
‘‘It is mind-blowing to think that this little production made from the goodness of people’s hearts is suddenly receiving recognition on the world stage,’’ says Jaspers. ‘‘For zero budget, it has very high production values and I’m forever grateful for all my cast and crew for achieving that. It goes to show how much talent and enthusiasm we have in our domestic film industry.’’
Milk’s New Zealand premiere is in Auckland and Martinborough in October.