Your parents and the house you grew up in is an unusual theme for feature filmmakers.
But for Kiwi director Alyx Duncan, that's what inspired her film The Red House, and the film is receiving widespread critical acclaim.
When you watch The Red House, you may find it hard to believe a few things – that it was mainly shot on digital photo cameras, that it cost less than $150,000 to make and that the two main actors are Duncan's parents.
She says it was tricky, but there "was something that was very beautiful about the way that they are on camera, and so for me, I felt like I really wanted them to do it".
The result is a candid performance that captures the love between the two in a storyline that blurs their real life story with Duncan's fictional plot.
Duncan says she was terrified to show her parents the film for the first time, but luckily, they approved.
"My relief was just enormous. I think I just almost cried at that point, just knowing that they'd thought I'd done well."
The house is one in which Duncan grew up, and it forms the third point of a love triangle.
"It's filled with all the memories and all the mementos that existed from my childhood and from my family life."
The Red House is on general release in theatres from today after it screened to sell-out audiences at the New Zealand Film Festival last year.
3 News
source: newshub archive
