Taking Back Our Beach

In the early hours of 5 October 2011, the container ship MV Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef (Ōtāiti), spilling hundreds of tonnes of oil into the sea. The environmental impact was devastating — threatening local ecosystems and wildlife as waves of oil washed up along the beaches of Mount Maunganui. Over a decade later, this feature-length documentary reflects on how the community came together in the aftermath, with volunteers rallying to rescue wildlife and remove debris from the beaches. In this excerpt, residents, community leaders, and wildlife and marine experts share their initial shock at the disaster.  

I don't think anybody, including ourselves, realised how big a deal it was gonna be until we got there that morning. The scene that unfolded when we arrived was indescribable. She was high and dry and grinding away on that reef.

– Sun Media owner Brian Rogers recalls first reporting on the shipwreck of the 'Rena', in this excerpt

Key Cast & Crew

Claire Rogers

Executive Producer

James Brookes

Post-Production Producer

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Producer, Additional Camera Operator

Morgan Samuel

Sound Mix, Supervising Sound Editor

Anton Steel

Director, Editor, Producer, Additional Camera Operator

Andrew Taylor

B-Roll Camera Operator