Little Bits of Light

“Intimate, acutely observant filmmaking with real emotional power, Campbell Walker’s digital feature bears witness to a young couple’s struggle to survive one partner’s crushing bouts of depression. Alex and Helen are taking a winter break in a rambling old house in the Taranaki countryside. The days may hold distinct and pleasurable ‘little bits of light’, but the nights are hellish and long. Alex’s hyper-alert concern is no palliative to Helen’s illness. Walker (Uncomfortable Comfortable), who evolves his films in collaboration with his actors, is also working here with his partner, Grace Russell, drawing on their own relationship. Nia Robyn elucidates Helen’s anguish and her arresting off-kilter liveliness with unstinting clarity. She has her match in Rob Jerram who plays Alex without a hint of self-serving nobility. This is screen acting of such a high order that it’s like watching the private struggle of two real people, played out in real time, but sharpened into dramatic focus and suffused with the filmmaker’s love, wonder and dismay.” —Bill Gosden, New Zealand International Film Festival