Talking Culture - Crazy Happy

Auckland Festival of Photography and Toi Ora presents documentary CRAZY HAPPY.  This documentary follows a group of people with mental health issues, such as depression and suicidal thoughts, as they embark on a 100-day photographic journey to find happiness.

The project took a grass roots approach by inviting a group of consumers to equip and enable themselves with mobile phones/cameras and literally focus the lens towards the aspects of daily life that made them happy.

However, with the group not even being able to identify with the concept of happiness, the task seemed much harder than it sounded. It took a few weeks for them to re-learn what happiness was, and that’s when things started to change for the group.

Crazy Happy had its official premiere in Northland amongst the very community where it was filmed. It has also been officially selected for the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival in Los Angeles this April.

Crazy Happy is Ali Davie’s first professional debut as a writer/director alongside producer Zuleika Gilbert. Produced by One Fat Chick Films in association with Piece-a-Pie Productions, Crazy Happy is a little gem of a movie made with very little money but a lot of heart and passion. Edited by Isaac bell and on camera, Alex Mason. Crazy Happy runs for 49mins.