ABOUT THIS PROJECT

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Produced for Mediaworks/Discovery, Pencil’s Productions’ documentary The Eruption: Stories of Survival  focuses on the dramatic events of December 9th, 2019, after Whakaari/White Island, an active volcano, erupted suddenly. The volcano is a popular tourism destination off the East Coast of Aotearoa, NZ. Twenty-two people were killed, and as many were seriously injured. The majority were tourists but The Eruption takes a more local angle, following the stories of the only NZ-ers to survive, two young guides from White Island Tours, Jake Milbank and Kelsey Waghorn. The film also includes the family of Hayden Marshall-Inman, then a senior guide, who was killed in the eruption. Interviews with leaders of the local iwi Ngati Awa, scientists, doctors and first responders are woven into the documentary’s central narrative. 

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International distribution of The Eruption is being handled by TVF and has sold to SBS amongst other broadcasters. It is streaming in NZ and Australian on DocPlay.