Rain of the Children

"The subject of this film is Puhi; a spirited, fascinating and very endearing old lady. A hunched and haunted figure, with a face you could look at for hours; you very quickly get the impression Puhi - or 'Nanny' - has had a hell of a life. We are introduced to her in her eighties, living an insular existence in the Urewera Ranges near Gisborne and still caring for her schizophrenic adult son Niki (who is no less intriguing). This strange and tense family unit was also the subject of Ward's short documentary In Spring One Plants Alone, made 30 years ago. Puhi died shortly after that, but since then director Vincent Ward has harboured a hunch - that a dark undercurrent he observed held a much bigger story. Compelled, he revisits the subject in the brilliant Rain of the Children."

"Compelling and heart-wrenching."

"In exploring the fascinating past of a character in one of his earlier films, director Vincent Ward gets in the way of his own storytelling."

"Ward narrates his story both on camera and in voice-over, and once I settled in and got used to that, I found the film a compelling watch."

"In the stunning docu-drama "Rain of the Children," New Zealand-born filmmaker Vincent Ward revisits the past to unravel a mystery that's niggled at him for three decades. Here meticulous research reveals the family secrets burdening the stooped old Maori woman who was, in fact, the subject of Ward's 1978 observational film "In Spring One Plants Alone." It's a masterful companion piece -- a kind of marathon director's cut -- but it also stands alone as a haunting historical epic. "Rain" is guaranteed a warm art house reception."