Alistair Harding
Filmmaker
My name is Alistair Harding and I am a New Zealand filmmaker who was at the parliament protests earlier this year. While I was there, I spent my time filming what was going on with the goal to make a documentary film about the extraordinary events there.
Since then, I have been editing my footage, and recently I released Part 1 (of 2 parts) of the film – “We Came Here For Freedom”.
The goal of the film is to tell a more balanced story of what happened there. And also to emphasise the importance of Freedom of Speech in the context of New Zealand’s government going down the extraordinarily dangerous path of ignoring its citizens. I believe this is a subject that The BFD has covered consistently, so I believe this film will be of interest to your readers.
I have also made a website – wecamehereforfreedom.com – which features the trailer, the film (free to view), some background writing and film stills. Also included is a series of documentary shorts I produced before the convoy about the birth of the Freedom movement.
Furthermore, I am currently working on including art inspired by the convoy and podcast-style interviews with the people who I interviewed for the film. I intend that by the anniversary of the occupation next year (or soon after) the website will become an archive of memories offering a more balanced view of the protests than the mainstream media provides.
We Came Here For Freedom Documentary Film
We Came Here for Freedom is a documentary film and historical archive of the people and stories of that convoy and the resulting 23-day occupation of the lawns and streets around New Zealand’s parliament buildings.
In February 2022, two protest convoys simultaneously began in New Zealand – from Cape Reinga at the top of the North Island and from Bluff at the bottom of the South Island.
Their destination was the capital city of Wellington. And what would happen when they got there would become a defining moment in the country’s history.
This is the story that the government and the media of New Zealand have fought to suppress.
It is the story that tells of the protestors at parliament in February 2022, not as “filth”, but as New Zealanders worthy of a voice.