Flying High, Longlist - Branded

Finding Pride

A.J. Greenwood

FINCH Company

Traveling prior to the pandemic, alongside a small and nimble crew, Greenwood captured the lives of six people who all represented different parts of the LGBTQIA+ community throughout the region. In pre-production, A.J worked alongside each person to write a piece of prose about their individual identity journey. A.J then designed a visual portrait based on the everyday life of each individual to be used as a backdrop in which to set their story. With the preproduction, all executed remotely from Sydney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand the team took off on a whirlwind shoot schedule through the Asia-Pacific. As COVID-19 began to spread, the team had to navigate the production process to round off the seven-part series. It was a one-and-a-half-year journey for Greenwood; one that she has considered a privilege to have undertaken. Together, the films celebrate the diversity of LGBTQIA+ experiences within the Asia-Pacific, showcasing the open-hearted, courageous, and intelligent LGBTQIA+ people who live there.

Abigail is an award winning theatre director and filmmaker from Auckland, New Zealand. Abigail’s first short film Eleven received international acclaim participating in festivals including, Berlinale 2014, Melbourne International Film Festival 2014. The film won Best Short Film at the Rialto Channel NZ Film Awards 2014, and Abigail was awarded for Distinctive Creative Achievement as a Director in the New Zealand International Film Festival 'NZ's Best' competition 2014. Abigail recently completed her second short Theodora. In 2016 Abigail interned as a director with Filthy Productions, Abigail was selected for the Film up programme in 2017 with Script to Screen as well as the DEGNZ womens film incubator. In 2019 Abigail was selected as a participant for the Berlinale Talents program with feature film LUCKY. Abigail is currently directing commercials for finch films alongside projects in development: feature film LUCKY, currently in development with the NZFC and television series APRIL/JUNE, a participant in Episodic Lab 2018.