Broken Journey - The Life and Art of JC Sturm

JC Sturm (also known as Jacquie Baxter) was an author and poet whose career was overshadowed by her famous spouse, and societal forces that sidelined women writers — especially Māori writers. Mixing English and te reo, this documentary follows Sturm from her 1927 birth in Ōpunake to her renaissance as a writer, which marked the 'missing link' between an old New Zealand literary tradition and a new Māori voice. Sturm talks about struggling to break through as a Māori woman fostered by Pākehā and living in that system. Witi Ihimaera calls her late acclaim an "accident of timing", as she was an early pioneer.

One thing that I learnt during this period was never mind about the facts; it's how you felt about what happened...it's an emotional memory that you're using.

– JC Sturm on her family's time in India in the early 1960s

Key Cast & Crew

Jamie Tuuta

Narrator, Translator

Ainsley Gardiner

Executive Producer

Huia Lambie

Producer

Jim Scott

Writer, Editor

Witi Ihimaera

Subject

John Martin

Composer