[As published in Summer 2025/26 BayBuzz magazine.]

In early November, around 120 people gathered at Focal Point Cinema in Havelock North for the premiere of locally made film What Lies Between. 

An air of celebration filled the foyer, and hushed anticipation took over the theatre itself as we settled into our seats to experience the creation of a band of locals who have actually made a feature film, right here.

For filmmaker James Cleary, this was an evening he’d worked towards for ten years. Beginning writing this film a decade ago while juggling other work commitments and the demands of a young family, What Lies Between has been his life alongside his life. 

A musician from a young age, James went to jazz school and was playing in jazz bands in Wellington in his early twenties when injury struck (an RSI in his drumming wrists) and he had to make a change. He headed for Australia and a fortuitous meeting while working in a roofing gang lead him to a part-time gig on a film set. It was Sydney in the late nineties, and there was a filmmaking boom going on. When James landed at Fox Studios, they were making big movies. Moulin Rouge, then the Star Wars films, and The Matrix. He fell in love with the technicalities and the techniques of it, the moving parts, the magic of movies.

Perhaps, despite his mix of career experience over the years, James was always meant to be a filmmaker. He’s a true creative mind. One-track and totally pre-occupied with his craft. Completely dedicated to making movies. A student of Tarkovsky, Kubrick and Bergman, there’s an offbeat intensity to James’ work and his approach.

What Lies Between began its life under the working title Recognition, after James walked away from an earlier script that was supposed to be his first feature. That initial project was going to be too involved, too heavy on cast and production, too complicated. So with some help from story consultant Dean Tsolakis, James bit into this new piece – minimal cast, mostly shot in one location, more focused and efficient to produce. The story made its way through many iterations, getting less abstract with each draft, while still holding on to its quietness and art-house heart. All of this writing was going on at night, after work, around the early years of a young family, with a dogged dedication.

As James tells it, once he had it written, then came time to get others involved. No easy feat considering (and this is evident when you see it), the story is easier to understand when it’s seen rather than described. There were plenty of conversations that went nowhere. 

Then came a meeting with local many-hat-wearer Daniel Betty. James needed help casting the film, and Daniel got to reading it, considering it, seeing if there was an actor who could play the lead. He realised he wanted to do it himself, and came onboard not only as an actor, but as the producer alongside James too.

Daniel has been involved in film, TV and theatre as an actor, producer and director in film in the UK, Australia and New Zealand for over 25 years. He says this project captured him with “its complexity, strong narrative and exploration of the human psyche”.

His production company Kōtiri Productions got involved early on, and has worked shaping and honing the story, casting, finding locations, providing resources and developing strategies for film financing. Knowing so many people in film throughout the country has enabled Daniel to help guide the production through all stages.

The film itself is an artwork. It lingers with you long after the credits have rolled. Beautifully shot (mostly in Patoka) by renowned lighting and cameraman Gilly Lawrence and assisted by Tom Allen, it has a landscape that feels familiar, but with an air of mystery, unease and edge. The musical score is a character of its own, composed by 19-year-old Halo Siloata; it’s a highlight of the whole experience.

It centres around Jim (Daniel Betty), a writer who leaves Auckland to work on his writing project in the peace, solitude and tranquillity of a farm cottage on the edge of a forestry block. He writes, eats, drinks (local Cru Syrah, and plenty of it) and walks the farmland and forestry block. The appearance of a man out there and Jess (played by Ruth Strong), who lives in the main farmhouse, add a layer of confusion, both for Jim and for the audience. Over time, we slip further into perplexity with Jim, as Jess’s discomfort and the man’s fleetingness suggest deeper, shifting realities at play. 

His discovery of notebooks in a cupboard at the cottage, and his declining mental state take the audience further into Jim’s spiral. Soon, the arrival of his wife and stepson at the cottage expose the truth of his relationship conflict. Jim finds himself back in the forest where he discovers it holds the truth about his past and his present. 

James describes the story as, “A love story between two troubled people, both hopelessly burdened by their pasts. The seemingly insurmountable challenge to leave this behind is within reach, but it also threatens to consume them. Allowing the past to dominate their present and, with it, the possibility of their complete destruction.”

Daniel says that What Lies Between is, “a filmmaker’s piece.” 

“It is perfectly paced, provides a rich tapestry of intrigue and allows the audience to unravel the challenges that Jim faces. The composition music by Halo Siloata, builds tension and guides the audience to understand how characters feel throughout their journey. The outcome, a beautiful balance of a New Zealand story told for a global audience. Jim, our ‘everyman’, has to overcome his past, face his present and change to be a better man for the future.”

Filming was efficient and tight, working around the differing schedules of talent. The first stage was scheduled for ten days in Patoka, an hour inland from Napier, in August 2024. This location constituted almost half the screen time and included the cottage and the forestry land. James says that finding this location was how he saw the potential to write in scenes set in the forest and it became a pivotal part of the film. Most of this stage was just the cast and a small crew of five. Gear and equipment were borrowed and limited, with major contributions from Daniel Betty and Tom Allan for camera/lens gear, Gilly Lawrence for lighting, Tony Keddy for grip equipment and Rob Mackintosh for post-production equipment. 

Stage two (once a little more finance had been secured) was in November 2024, back in Patoka for three days with additional actors. Stage three took the small crew to a farmhouse at the back of Waipukurau, for the scenes in Jess’s farmhouse. And Stage four happened on an unsealed rural road in Maraetotara, 40 minutes south of Havelock North, filming there for two days to get all of Jim’s driving and phone call scenes. Not exactly seamless, as it’s a public road! This took a few extra crew to manage traffic and disruptions.

Local spots, local crew, two locals in the lead roles (supporting roles were played by Auckland actors Peter Elliot and Leisha Ward Knox) and lots of local support mean this, James Cleary’s debut feature, is a true Hawke’s Bay creation.

And hopefully we’re going to see more, as our Regional Film Office, the Eastern Screen Alliance continues to work to promote the region as a destination for filmmaking. With direct links to the New Zealand Film Commission, the Screen Industry Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand, Script to Screen, and other agencies, the Eastern Screen Alliance helps productions to identify locations, liaise with local iwi and councils to gain permission and permits, and connect to film-industry talent here in the Bay.

From here, at the time of writing, the hope is that if What Lies Between gets a good run of full theatres in Hawke’s Bay, it’ll lead to a New Zealand distribution deal. 

And for James? He’s already well into a handful of other projects. The Cuban, a romantic comedy set in Wellington and telling the story of an agoraphobic Afro-Cuban jazz musician, and City of Denial, a crime thriller.

James is to be applauded, for the film itself and for the fact that he really made a feature film, here in the Bay, on a super tight budget, with the help of his community and because of his belief in the project. He laughed at one of the screenings that for years he’d been, “That weird guy who was always talking about how he was writing and making a film.”

It’s true – I met him in 2022 when he was working in his family business, Whitehouse Interiors and he installed blinds for me. I ran into him at a bar later that evening with mutual friend (Benny Fernandez, who incidentally became an executive producer on What Lies Between) and first heard then about the atmospheric, psychological film he was developing. Others know him from hospitality management and other interior work, a guy with diverse skills who keeps talking about this film he’s working on. 

Now it’s out in the world and audiences are talking about it – he’s actually done it! Check it out over the summer if you haven’t already. Support local film making and local art. 

Let’s see if this homegrown tale can make it to bigger stages. 

You can find details on where to see the film over the next couple of months at whatliesbetweenfilm.com