Behind the scenes: "Finding Our Way Back To Ourselves"
Behind the scenes: "Finding Our Way Back To Ourselves"
To encourage veterans to apply for support, Veterans’ Affairs has produced the strong and emotional video, “Finding our way back to ourselves”.
It features three veterans who deployed to Afghanistan and East Timor, and they share their experiences of coming home, the support that they received from Veterans' Affairs and where they are now.
Directed by Steve Baker of the Bakery Collective, the video was important and personal project for him.
"I wanted to bring a very honest and open conversation to this film. By revisiting our past, we can help change the future told through the experiences of service. It became clear through my connection with Ange, Anaru, and Jared that each veteran's journey to civilian life is unique and nonlinear."
Shot in Papamoa, Te Puke, Turangi, on Mt Ruapehu, and in Auckland, Steve aimed to show their individual journeys and where each had arrived at.
Photo: Steve Baker, Bakery Collective. Jared Booth (East Timor veteran) and Charlee Booth.
"We set out to create something that not only shows where the core issues began but also how far each of them has come on their own personal journeys." Please help us reach more veterans by sharing or showing this video to other veterans who may not be in contact with Veterans' Affairs.
Steve had previously worked with Veterans' Affairs on the 2023 video called "Coming home" which was part of the launch of Te Arataki (the Veterans Wellbeing Strategy).
"It was a true honour to create this piece for our Veterans of Aotearoa and something I will not forget. More importantly though I want to thank Ange, Anaru and Jared for doing this as I know how hard it was."
By featuring veterans from more recent deployments and the success of their treatment and support Veterans' Affairs hopes to encourage veterans from those deployments to contact Veterans' Affairs and to learn about the range of support that might be available to them.
Photo: Steve Baker, Bakery Collective. Ange Coyle (Afghanistan veteran).
