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When writer-director Paloma Schneideman decided to make a coming-of-age film, she couldn’t think of a better location than Mangatāwhiri Omaha.
Shooting started for Big Girls Don’t Cry this month.
Schneideman, who was raised in Matakana and attended Mahurangi College, considers Omaha the “mecca” of her youth.
“Bringing the film back to this region is a deeply personal journey, with Omaha serving as the heart and spiritual home of the story,” she says.
“Growing up in Matakana – before buses, social media, and wireless internet – I sometimes felt a bit isolated, despite the literal paradise on my doorstep.
“The way Omaha transformed every summer was so thrilling for me as a teenager.
“It felt like a place full of new people and endless possibilities – you could become whoever you wanted.
It was a deeply formative place for me during my coming-of-age years, so it only felt right to set my debut feature here.”
Schneideman, who is also a musician who performs as PollyHill, said one of her earliest gigs was at the Leigh Sawmill.
“So much of my heart is tied to this place, and it only felt fitting to honor this beautiful wonderland on screen.”
Big Girls Don’t Cry is described as a bold and emotionally charged coming-of-age story. It will be the first feature film to emerge from Jane Campion’s esteemed film programme, A Wave in the Ocean.
Set in the summer of 2006, the story follows 14-year-old Sid, who finds herself caught between her own burgeoning sexual curiosity and the desire for acceptance from an older group of girls. As she delves deeper into rebellion, she leaves behind a trail of destruction, navigating the complexities of adolescence and self-discovery.
Filming will take place in both Omaha and Auckland over the next two months, and will involve many extras from the Mahurangi district.
Schneideman’s short films include Gate Crash (2023) and Memory Foam (2019), which have both screened at the New Zealand International Film Festival and the Oscar-qualifying Show Me Shorts Film festivals, respectively.
Big Girls Don’t Cry has received support from Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga The New Zealand Film Commission, Hinterland Creative, Images&Sound and A Wave in the Ocean.
The film will be released theatrically in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.
