Has social media put an end to the Christchurch movie They Are Us for good?
Whether the movie will get made was always an open question. There are so many factors involved in movie financing that projects can and do fall over at any stage. Ive spoken to directors over the years who have recounted with weary resignation, and not a little residual trauma, tales of finance falling through the week, or even the day, before shooting was due to begin; one even told me a big chunk of money fell through while he was shooting (luckily, replacement funds were found). They Are Us would have been heading to Cannes with a reasonable chance of securing finance (depending on budget, of course), but with no guarantees. The market  which is to say the distribution companies and sales agents and individuals who might stump up the cash that would allow the project to move to the next stage, where it might seek access to government funding and tax offsets and gap finance and all the other moving parts that allow filmmaking to happen outside of Hollywood and Bollywood  would ultimately have determined whether or not the film was a good idea. In a sense, the protests against They Are Us may have done the project a favour. They serve as market research of a sort and highlight some of the issues the film will need to address  not least the disavowal by Ardern herself  if it is to glide into the world with ease and goodwill rather than smash into a wall of resistance. They may prompt changes, though whether those changes make a flawed film better or a strong one worse we may never know. Mosque shooting survivor Farid Ahmed. Credit:AP  In the past week, the producers have attempted to wrest back control of the narrative (though one of them, Philippa Campbell, severed ties with the project on Monday, saying she had heard the strength of peoples views and concluded she did not wish to be involved with a project that is causing such distress).