featherStrength (Feather Strength)

Raising a child, reshaping a life.

Filmed over a decade, one father gradually relinquishes his professional life to meet the relentless demands of raising a child with severe developmental challenges. With a camera and no crew, he films intimate fragments of daily life – routine, rupture, exhaustion, and unexpected resilience – as the weight of the new normal presses against the limits of what he can sustain. A meditation on care, acceptance, and the strength required to navigate life’s wilderness. It is a story about learning to bend without breaking, and about discovering meaning not in resolution, but in the act of continuing – living the life you didn’t plan for.

This film won Best New Zealand Feature & Best New Zealand Editing categories at the Doc Edge Awards 2026.

Screening Note:

For Auckland and Wellington screenings, this film is preceded by the short film, Chilapa Girl (Niña Chilapa),(17 mins).  Get tickets on this page.

For Christchurch screening, this film screens as part of the Christchurch Collection, alongside three other films, Girls’ Flight Out, Gloria and Jacqueline Fahey: From Where I’m Looking 

Get tickets for Christchurch screening