AUGUSTO’S NEW FEATURE DOCUMENTARY ‘THE GIRL ON THE BRIDGE’ TO PREMIERE AT THE NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

It was announced today that local creative and production agency Augusto’s new feature documentary The Girl on the Bridge, co-produced by Bloom Pictures, will premiere at the New Zealand International Film Festival, ahead of a nationwide general release in October. The film will also screen in this year’s Cannes Docs line-up, running from June 22 – 26 as part of the Marché du Film Online.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Leanne Pooley (25 April, Beyond the Edge), The Girl On The Bridge is a response to our collective anguish about the levels of suicide in our communities and our desire to do something to help.

Following on from Augusto’s award-winning web series Jessica’s Tree, The Girl On The Bridge was filmed over a two-year period. The film follows twenty-two-year-old Jazz Thornton who has survived multiple suicide attempts and is now a powerful mental health advocate. After founding her own charity, Voices of Hope, to support young people struggling as she once did, she’s put herself through film school to learn the skills she needs to communicate.

Augusto’s Cass Avery, Co-producer on the film commented: “If 2020 has proven anything it’s that collectively we can effect change if we are prepared to listen and act on what we learn. Jazz has taught me so much in the years we have been working together and that knowledge and understanding of what people feel and need when they’re dealing with mental health issues is powerful.  The responsibility for change lies with “us” and not with “them” and this film is a first to step people can to take toward doing something for people who need our support.”

Jazz Thornton added that the film has been a long time coming: “I agreed to this in hope that it might help just one person, but I am certain that it will do more. I am excited for people to see both the reality of advocating, but also the hope and strength that can be found through it.”

Director Leanne Pooley commented: “You make documentaries because you want to make a difference, it’s that simple.  So as a filmmaker working with Jazz was a once in a career opportunity to explore a difficult subject in a way that could really be a catalyst for change.  Jazz has so much to offer the world, she is hope personified and I’m very much looking forward to watching her connect with cinema audiences everywhere.”

Co-producer Alex Reed says Jazz Thornton is a formidable young mental health advocate who challenges all of us to join her in making change: “The power of The Girl On The Bridge is that it bears witness to the reality of advocacy in action in a way that inspires the question, what more can I do?”

The Girl On The Bridge follows Jazz as she takes a stand to advocate for people dealing with mental health issues. But her public profile makes her a lighthouse for young people and their families who turn to her.