Growing Up from Down (2017)

Broken promises, tear-stained cheeks, and other adolescent cliches. Teenagers often make decisions bordering on the irrational. The way they act sometimes makes everyone else question what is going on in their heads. So what if they had a chance to express with their own words their own worlds?

"Growing Up from Down" is a live cinema experience bringing a collaboration of film, dance, theatre and music to the stage. Aorere Film Academy invites you to experience the joys, struggles, and tendernesses of youth. Written, guided and performed by current Aorere College students and alumni, the show will not just show you their perspective but will illuminate their motivations and inner conflicts, building a bridge towards deeper understanding.

"Growing Up from Down" begins with a girl finding her place among the dynamics of early high school relationships, then follows her as they evolve and dissolve through her junior and senior years, and with them, her sense of self. This narrative is interwoven with parallel stories from other teens. The live cinema experience features short films such as "Jalice," the tale of two friends whose approaches to life clash; "Salty," about a girl whose dream to be an artist is weighed down by her Mom's diverging expectations; and "Toby or not Toby," a story about the pressure and mess of defining yourself at the cusp of adulthood. These glimpses into teenage lives tie together to give a vulnerable, yet a brave vision of adolescence.

Māngere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku

28th September 2017

7.00pm