Loading Docs 2022 - Mana Over Meth

Web (Full Length) – 2022

As a child, Jessica Apanui (Ngāti Porou) knew that she was Māori, but “didn’t know what that meant”. Disconnected from her whakapapa, she sought an escape from a violent childhood through methamphetamine. Instead she found herself robbed of her mana. After years of addiction, she makes a commitment to breaking the cycle of trauma and healing for the sake of her tamariki. In this short documentary, Jessica looks to her past to help guide her future. Mana Over Meth is director Holly Beckham’s second documentary on addiction among Māori wahine, following her 2021 documentary He Ara Anō.

Warning: This film contains reenactments of drug abuse and addiction that some viewers may find disturbing and/or triggering.

Our wāhine are suffering in silence while using meth to escape the pain of sexual abuse, depression and physical abuse and intergenerational trauma. Its time to break the silence. it will remain hidden if we don’t share out stories. We could feel our tupuna while we were making this doco. We let them guide and awhi us.
– Director Holly Beckham on the ethos behind Mana Over Meth, WomenMagazine, 20 November 2022