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Regional | Film

'Belief - The possession of Janet Moses' to feature at NZ International Film Festival

A documentary which looks in depth at the death of 22-year-old Janet Moses in October 2007 will feature at the New Zealand International Film Festival.

‘Belief – The Possession of Janet Moses’ tells the story of the death of Janet Moses which was reported around the world after she died of an accidental drowning during a Mākutu lifting ceremony in Wainuiomata.

9 members of her family were charged in relation to her tragic death.

Emmy award winning director David Stubbs who grew up in Wainuiomata says “This film is for Janet, At the foremost of my mind was what Janet would want from it –and in the end I believed she’d eant viewers to know her whānau loved her and she loved them back.”

The film delves into the last four days and four nights of Janet’s life where she was surrounded by whānau in a bedsit who believed she had fallen under a makutu after her sister had stolen a lion statue from the Greytown Hotel in the Wairarapa.

Stubbs says he spoke with lawyers, police, community and Māori leaders as well as experts on Mākutu and psychiatric professionals.

He says while he approached the whānau to participate in the documentary, they did not co-operate with the production and felt it was important for the community to know that.

The film will feature at on Tuesday the 28th of July and on Wednesday the 29th of July at the Sky City Theatre in Auckland.