Another TV show I have been working on at Butobase, Minority Voices, premiers this Sunday 6th of December at 11.30am on TVOne.

Minority Voices is a 10-part half-hour documentary series tracking the challenges faced by refugees from around the world settling and adapting to life in New Zealand.  While many of these individuals fled persecution, violence, political, and economic strife in their home countries, arriving with their families in a country with a different language and culture presented a new and very different struggle. Personal stories relate frustration, adaptation, and successes of immigrants from the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Central and Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. A full synopsis can be found on TVNZ’s website.

For this series, I was responsible on working on the initial edit of several stories with Associate Producers Rebecca Singh and Dane Giraud, before they moved on for the fine cut with editor Tim Grocott and producer Julia Parnell. Post continues here…

Some of the interesting stories I helped cut include:

Football’s in the blood
El Salvadorian migrants Ana Maria and Ernesto Lopez are sparing no effort in helping their quick-footed son realize his dream of becoming one of New Zealand’s top soccer players.

The Beauty of Business.
Classic Beauty on Auckland’s Dominion Rd is a salon run by the flamboyant Brazilian sisters who are adding some South American color to the lives of their clientele.

Reaching New Heights.
Gymnastics coach, 24 year old Bulgarian Valentin Uzunov shares with us his dream of taking a New Zealand gymnast to the top podium at the next Olympics.

A is for Abraham.
Abraham Mamer is a role model, who is using his own experiences as a refugee to ensure students with similar backgrounds get the most out of the New Zealand education system.

Faith Beyond Borders.
Homayoun Reza crossed the border into New Zealand as a refugee from Iran. Today he’s protecting our boarders, as a MAF inspector. We explore Homayouns dual roles as protector of our bio-security and as a member of the local Bahai community.

Language is the Key.
We attend REAF, the innovative English language school that is allowing mothers to enjoy the benefits of second language education by supplying a crèche service.

Speaking for a Community
We travel with Ali Tausif, a Christchurch based Afghani health worker, into his community as he helps a young couple deal with an amputation.

Growing A Village.
Getting to know each other proves a challenge for the culturally diverse residents of the Housing New Zealand community of Mt. Roskills May Rd.

Brothers
Meet Issa and Ibrahim, Ethiopian brothers who have found their place in the New Zealand work force; plus a special welcome offered by members of Ngai Tahu to some recent migrants.

I also have a cameo on-camera asking some questions in the back seat of Dawit’s taxicab in Episode 1.

Watch the episodes online, from within New Zealand only, on TVNZ OnDemand.

Also check out production photos, comments, and synopses on the Minority Voices Facebook Page.