Whirlflow - Amber Esau

Amber Esau’s Whirlflow blazes a surrealistic arc over west Auckland, leaving a trail of images, ideas and dreams that shine like neon even as they decay. Anyone who’s ever spent teenage nights hanging laps with a crew, searching for the big one and questioning everything along the way, will see a bit of themselves in Esau and director Kathleen Mantel’s kaleidoscopic road trip.

Amber Esau is a Samaorish writer living in Auckland. With a love of words but not punctuation, a penchant for procrastination, and an infatuation with inspiration, she has been published in Poetry NZ, the Spinoff, Poetry Shelf and Ora Nui and is a past winner of the famous Going West Slam.

Kathleen Mantel is a multi award winning documentary filmmaker. She is passionate about telling stories about the world around us that are not immediately obvious, the people and the stories that are not often seen or heard from. Kathleen is interested in the human condition, what makes people tick, get angry, love. Her work ranges from the highly commercial to the highly experimental. She has worked as a documentary filmmaker for over 20 years both in New Zealand and the United States. Her work has screened on television, at festivals, and on the web all around the world.

Amber Esau (left), Kathleen Mantel (right)

Credits:
Poem: Whirlflow by Amber Esau
Director: Kathleen Mantel
DOP: Pepe de Hoyos
Editor: Jack Woon

Commissioned by Going West Writers Festival with the support of Waitākere Ranges Local Board, Auckland Council and Creative New Zealand. Additional support from The Trusts Charitable Foundation, The Trusts, Foundation North and South Pacific Pictures.