Every New Zealander of a certain age has a picture of Jonah Lomu fixed in memory, usually involving the 1995 Rugby World Cup and a line of English defenders left on the turf. Lomu, the feature documentary from directors Vea Mafile’o and Gavin Fitzgerald, sets out to replace that highlight reel with a person. After a festival run that took it from Dublin to the Civic in Auckland, the film reaches free-to-air television on TVNZ 1 on Sunday 15 November.
Watch the trailer
That is the right home for it. A film this rooted in South Auckland and Tonga belongs on the channel most of the country still gathers around on a Sunday night, rather than solely behind a cinema ticket.
What the film covers
Lomu traces the wing from his Tongan upbringing to his debut as the youngest All Black at 19, then through the 1995 World Cup and the fame that followed. It is equally concerned with what came next: his diagnosis with nephrotic syndrome, the kidney disease that cut short a career that had barely reached its potential, and the collision between global media attention and the values of his upbringing. The film also places his rise against rugby’s shift to professionalism.
The material is built from archive footage and interviews with those closest to him, including his mother Hepi, his brother John and former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains. The film runs 106 minutes.
Who made it
Mafile’o, a New Zealand filmmaker, directs alongside Ireland’s Fitzgerald. Lomu is a co-production between Velvet Moss in New Zealand, with producers Emma Slade and Victoria Dabbs, and Sylver Entertainment in the United Kingdom, with producers Simon Lazenby and Victoria Barrell. Oli Harbottle and Anna Godas executive produce for Dogwoof, with Tahi Productions also among the executive producers.
The film was financed with support from the New Zealand Film Commission, the New Zealand Government Screen Production Rebate and the UK Global Screen Fund. Madman Entertainment is the distributor in Australia and New Zealand.
The road to television
The documentary had its world premiere in the Documentary Competition at the Dublin International Film Festival in February, followed by the Glasgow Film Festival. Its Australian premiere came at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday 13 June. Before any local cinema release, the filmmakers took it back to Tonga for a free public screening at Teufaiva Stadium on 29 July.
The New Zealand premiere followed on Saturday 1 August, when Lomu screened as the Centrepiece film of the Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival at the Civic in Auckland. Madman then scheduled a September cinema release in New Zealand and Australia, a natural fit for Aotearoa’s independent cinemas as well as the chains.
The TVNZ 1 date caps a year in which New Zealand screen culture has also produced Mārama, the country’s official Oscar submission. For a broader look at what else lands this week, see this week’s viewing guide.
Where to watch
- Lomu: TVNZ 1, New Zealand, Sunday 15 November. Check the TVNZ guide for the broadcast time and for TVNZ+ availability, which TVNZ has not yet confirmed.
- Lomu: Australia, released in cinemas by Madman Entertainment; no Australian streaming date has been announced.
- Canada, US and UK: no release has been announced.
Sources
Before you go
