NZIFF: Lomu

Rugby's first global superstar was also one of its most private... a shy, gentle giant caught between two worlds, whose story mirrors Aotearoa's own coming of age.

In many respects, Vea Mafile'o and Gavin FitzGerald's documentary on Jonah Lomu is a story representative of Aotearoa's own emergence into the 21st century: a young nation of the South Pacific, still finding its footing in an increasingly commercialised world.

Born in South Auckland as a first-generation Tongan and son of a minister, Jonah would transcend his humble beginnings and become rugby's first real international superstar.

However, it was his childhood in the Kingdom of Tonga that was his foundation, and the film brings never-before-seen insights into his formative years, utilising personal photos and videos, as well as interviews with his mum Hepi and brother John, to trace his origin story.

The film tracks Jonah's rise to fame from his schoolboy playing days at Wesley College, to his disappointing All Blacks debut, through to his dominant performance at the 1995 Rugby World Cup — drawing on archival interviews with Jonah himself and his former manager Phil Kingsley Jones, alongside former teammates and coach Laurie Mains, to illuminate his meteoric rise to stardom.

But, while the documentary celebrates his highlight-reel career, it goes beyond the rugby field, examining how Jonah's breakthrough on the international stage coincided with rugby's shift from an amateur sport into professionalism — setting him on a collision course between the cultural values of his traditional upbringing and the pressures of relentless international media attention and intrusions into his personal life and relationships.

What the world saw was a giant. But to those closest to him he was a shy, gentle and private man, navigating between two very different worlds. His kidney disorder would inhibit a career that had only scratched its potential — and rob a young family of a father who existed quietly behind the legend.

Phone: 06 835 7781

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