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The inspiring story of New Zealand singer-songwriter Donna Dean is the subject of a low-key, but movingly honest, documentary that will screen at the Warkworth Town Hall on Saturday morning, June 2.
The Sound of Her Guitar, made in 2016, was directed by Bill Morris, who keeps the focus not just on Donna’s story, but also on the experiences shared by many who grew up with parents who struggled in the post-war years, in the suburbs of Auckland.
“I loved telling Donna’s story, which is an important story about breaking out of a cycle of dependency and abuse to follow a dream,” Bill says.
The film follows Donna from a state house in Glen Innes, where her childhood was peppered with her parents’ drinking and violence, to the Texas clubs, bars and radio stations where her distinctive country music style met an appreciative audience.
It is a story of the redemptive power of music and of Donna’s will power, songs and generously forgiving, and sometimes matter-of-fact spirit.
She left school at 15 and by 16, was pregnant and in a violent relationship. She seemed destined to repeat the pattern of her parents, and turned to drink. Rehab and songwriting
saved her.
“I’ve no regrets about making the film because my story is not unique,” she says. “Wherever the movie has been shown, in New Zealand or overseas, discussion around the themes of domestic violence, alcoholism, drug abuse and child abuse are the same.
“If the film inspires or gives hope to people and shows them that there is a way out, then the project was well worth doing.”
The film, which starts at 10.30am, is part of the Sounds On Screen Music Documentary Festival, at Warkworth Town Hall, which runs from June 1 to 3.
Info: soundsonscreen.nz
