11/05/2026
🎬 Crafting the Story of BY HAND
Hello! It's Jane here from Te Waiwhakaata Wairarapa Film Festival and the director of BY HAND.
With just 4 days to go, we are currently sitting at 65% of our $4,000 all-or-nothing Boosted campaign goal for BY HAND.
I haven’t shared the Boosted campaign here on the festival page until now, but as we move toward the final days, I wanted to invite our film festival community into the journey.
BY HAND is a contemplative short documentary about craft, collaboration, legacy, and the quiet dignity of making things slowly.
The film follows Greg and Ali Lang, the last wheelwright and coach painter in Aotearoa New Zealand, as they create a wooden wagon wheel entirely by hand at the Wheelwright Hub in Gladstone, Wairarapa.
One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is how we chose to tell this story.
There are many modes of documentary storytelling. Some are observational, such as the classic “fly on the wall” approach. Others are expository, driven by narration, interviews, and archival footage. Some are poetic, focusing on tone, rhythm, imagery, and emotional expression over strict linear storytelling.
With BY HAND, I never wanted to make a straightforward “how-to” film or conventional biography.
I wanted audiences to experience Greg and Ali’s world through rhythm, atmosphere, process, texture, and collaboration. I wanted viewers to sit beside the steam, timber, fire, and glowing wheel rim; observing the making of a wheel while hearing Greg and Ali reflect on decades of working slowly and closely together.
The film became its own blend of poetic, observational, and participatory documentary storytelling.
It’s poetic in its focus on tone, montage, movement, and artistic expression.
It’s observational in the way we quietly witness the wheel-making process unfold.
And it’s participatory because, although you never see or hear me, I’m beside the camera asking questions, guiding conversations, and shaping the emotional architecture of the story alongside Greg and Ali.
When you see me holding a clipboard in some of the production photographs, those notes were helping shape the three movements of the film:
• Origins
• Love story
• Legacy
There’s also a parallel story running throughout the documentary - we hear Greg and Ali speak about their craft and partnership, and we simultaneously observe them making the wheel together in present time. Their relationship exists inside the process itself.
As we move toward completing the campaign, we’re also thinking about the future life of the film: future screenings, festival submissions, and regional, national, and international distribution.
Every screening, festival submission, and distribution pathway comes with costs, and every donation helps us continue that journey.
If this story resonates with you, we would truly love your support.
And if you’re unable to donate, sharing the campaign genuinely helps us reach new audiences.
For New Zealand donors, all donations of $5 or more through Boosted qualify for a 33% tax credit.
Thank you for being part of the BY HAND journey so far.
Boosted Campaign link is in the first comment box below. 👇
