Ashes

Conversations with Sam Neill ,Val Brooke-White ,Deirdre O'Conner ,and Mere Lodge. A priest (Neill) discusses his life ,his career ,lent (as T. S. Eliot's poem 'Ash Wednesday' is read) ,as well as the idea of self-sacrifice ,and the silence and denial of the will of the priesthood ,before going abseiling. Intercut with this are interviews with other people - a mother and divorcee ,who attempted suicide ,called Val ;a former nurse turned stage performer called Deirdre ;and a childless Maori painter called Mere. Made by Warrick Attewell ,Barry Barclay ,Mike Hacking ,Ian John ,Sue May ,Craig McLeod ,John O'Shea ,Rory O'Shea ,John van der Reyden and Craig Walters ,this short film from New Zealand/Aotearoa was first broadcast on N. Z. B. C. television in March 1975 ,and it's amusing to see the future Anti-Christ as a priest. Filmed in a docu-drama style - with monologues to camera -it deals with issues of spirituality and it's seeming incompatibility with religion (whether Christian or Maori) ,what makes us who we are ,and how we are fulfilled in life.