NZIFF 2019 Q&A - John Chester – director of The Biggest Little Farm

NZIFF 2019 Q&A - John Chester – director of The Biggest Little Farm

My film is....
The Biggest Little Farm

The moment I'm most proud of is....
At Year Five on the farm when we started to see the purposeful intent behind the coyote, the weasel, the gopher and the badger. Before then we didn’t understand their role in what was happening. I had turned my back on filmmaking to be a farmer, but was so inspired by things that I kept capturing them on film and then at that Year Five mark I realised we had our key players in nature and there was a story to tell.

The reason I carried on with this film when it got tough is.....
Even when things are not easy, there isn’t really the option to walk away from other things which depend on you including plants and animals. In the end the film was made over eight years and I just stuck with it because I knew we have a profound story to tell which hadn’t been told before.

The thing I want people to take from this film is ......
Hopefulness about the future. I hope people will be inspired and that hopefulness exists when humans focus on a collaborative and innovative way to co-exist with nature to solve problems. Within diverse eco-systems, the solutions are infinite.

The one thing I'd say to aspiring filmmakers is.....
You must be so inspired and passionate about your subject matter to be willing to live with it and go as deeply as you can get to bring it to life. And be open to feedback, but know your own compass.