Going Home

To celebrate the adventurous life of her late Uncle, Ashley takes a leap of faith and learns to fly.

Instead of rock climbing and hang gliding he went to his room to rest. The cancer took hold of him pretty fast. 10 years on, Ashley is going to try the thing he loved most. She’s going to learn to fly. It’s a little bit crazy, she’s petrified and maybe not quite ready. Clive would love that.

The Short Documentary

Come on this journey with me by supporting Going Home, bringing this personal and beautifully human story to life.

My Uncle Clive was a climatologist, as well as a yoga instructing, rock climbing, hang gliding, kite flying go-getter. He had hopeless patience and never any food in his fridge when me and the bros went to stay with him as kids. Clive was a strong, adventure-seeking, freedom-loving soul who inspired me to make films. 

To celebrate Clive, I am going to learn to fly. The short documentary Going Home will follow my journey. I hope to find joy in my grief and in the thing Clive loved. The film is about Clive and how I choose to live with him since his death. It will be made with Clive’s writings, my visual eye and maybe my bros will want to join too. Going Home will be directed by myself (Ashley Williams) and produced by Ruth Korver.

Why I Want to Make This Story

Uncle Clive’s last words to me were, "choose one thing and do it well'. I have chosen filmmaking. I believe this story needs to be made because everyone has lost someone. 

For me, today that is believing in my ‘one thing’ and being brave enough to follow it. By making this film, I hope I can connect with others that may have gone through a similar journey and inspire those that need to hear this message. 

How Will Your Donation Help Us?

Our short documentary has been selected as part of Loading Docs 2020, a launchpad for filmmakers. As part of the initiative, we need to raise $2,500 through Boosted. Once we reach our target, it will unlock another $6,000 funding from Loading Docs, who will also cover post-production costs. However, this is an all or nothing campaign. If we don’t reach our target, we won’t be able to make this documentary. That’s why we need your help. 

We need to cover the costs of travel, accommodation, koha for our talented crew and, of course, flying lessons. Because the weather is such a fickle mistress we know we will need to travel several times to the South Island to film this documentary and the generous contributions we receive will help us make sure we can capture me on my flying journey.

Please help us bring our story to life by donating and sharing this with anyone you think might connect. Thank you.

Loading Docs is an award-winning short documentary initiative to develop New Zealand filmmaking talent and is funded by NZ On Air with support from the New Zealand Film Commission and Te Māngai Pāho. 

About the filmmakers

Ashley Williams - Director

Ashley is a Wellington based filmmaker. Her films are gritty, real, soulful and show hope. Ashley has mainly worked in drama, fantasy and places in-between. She uses strong female leads and believes film is able to offer a future zeitgeist. Her focus is heavily driven by emotion and performance, finding human truths in her stories. Last year she made short film Super Special for the 2019 online Someday Stories series which reached half a million views in a week. In 2017, she made a Super-8 film in one week with one reel and no editing, winning the ‘Super8x8’ challenge and was awarded best regional female director by Gaylene Preston in the 48-hour film competition the same year. More recently she interned under director Sam Kelly supported by the NZFC, for his upcoming feature Savage.

Ruth Korver - Producer

Ruth is an independent producer with over 15 years experience making films, TV and online content. Ruth has produced in creative agencies and manages the Vista Foundation 48Hours Film Competition. She has just finished line-producing Awa Film's period drama/wrestling show Colonial Combat and is currently finishing an NZOA funded TV length documentary for MTS - Shot Bro. Career highlights include Judgment Tavern (NZFC Premiere short, NZIFF, SIFF), The Sleeping Plot (Austin Fantastic Fest, Cinequest San Jose), short doco series The Secret Lives of Sex Workers (TVNZ OnDemand), and her feature, How to Meet Girls From a Distance, distributed by Madman films in Australasia after an acclaimed run at the NZIFF.