40 MINS, 2024
Refuge: A Duty to Care centres on life and work at a secret haven that shelters pets from violent homes, allowing victims of family violence to seek safety while knowing their animals are cared for.
This film explores the Pet Refuge, located in rural Aotearoa NZ, a temporary shelter for domestic animals with owners escaping violent homes.
Research shows a majority of victims of family violence stay in dangerous situations for too long, fearing their animals will be harmed, neglected, or killed. Pets are often used by abusive individuals to exert control - to stop victims from leaving a violent home, or to force their return. The Pet Refuge, one of the first shelters of its kind in the world, looks after animals until survivors find a safe place to be reunited with their pets.
Refuge is a moving mosaic showing the busy, loving life at Pet Refuge threaded with survivor/victims' compelling first-person stories.
While the film addresses the persistent and pervasive problem of domestic violence in Aotearoa New Zealand and across the world, it also highlights our increasing awareness of the rights of animals - a recognition that they think, feel and suffer.
Pet Refuge is a living example of a ‘duty to care’, a small but significant active intervention that has real value in addressing a seemingly overwhelming problem.
DIRECTOR
Annie Goldson
PRODUCERS
Annie Goldson, Alex Reed
Red Mole: A Romance explores the origins, performances, personalities and fate of Red Mole who burst onto the scene at the height of the counter-culture in Aotearoa New Zealand in the early 1970s.
An indefinable genre of poetry, dance, mask, fire-eating and rock music, Red Mole took young NZ by storm, then departed for New York City in the 1980s where they reached some acclaim until the demands of the city fragmented its core members.
Red Mole: A Romance is both a social history and a poignant personal story.
‘A raucous and entertaining portrait of the radical and boundary-pushing NZ radical theatre troupe, Red Mole – deeply emotional’
– Chris Bourke, NZIFF.
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER
Annie Goldson
CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Peter Simpson, Daniel Guzmán, Renke An
SOUND RECORDIST
Annie Goldson
EDITOR
Annie Goldson
ADDITIONAL EDITORS
Cushla Dillon, Harry Ashley
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Heather Wallace, Ben Goldson, Harry Ashley
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER
Ewan Collins
MUSIC CONSULTANTS
Jean McAllister, Tony McMaster
MOTION GRAPHICS
Jon Baxter
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE
© ANNIE GOLDSON 2024