Film has murder victim's family crying

By TIM HUME10:05, May 02 2010 FacebookTwitterGoogle +Ema

A short film based on the murder of South Auckland liquor store owner Navtej Singh
brought his family to tears during a private screening.

Manurewa, a 19-minute film directed by Aucklander Sam Peacocke, portrays a sequence

of events similar to Singh's 2008 death during an armed robbery, from the perspectives of
police and ambulance officers, customers and neighbours, the killer and his victim.

Although the film was "slightly more focused on the murderer than the guy who gets
murdered", said Peacocke, it was made with the blessing of Singh's family.

"The last thing we wanted to do with this movie was make things harder for Navtej's
family."

The film, which will be submitted for screening in film festivals later this year, was
played to its cast and crew in Auckland on Monday night, but had been shown to the
family earlier.

"Believe me, they started crying," said Sikh community leader and family spokesman
Daljit Singh. "They were thinking that they were watching what happened."

Filmed on location in South Auckland using mostly non-actors and with a budget of
$30,000, Manurewa tells the story of "Navraj Singh", who is shot during a robbery at his
Manurewa liquor store and dies while police and emergency services wait outside.

But the makers of the film said they did not want it seen as a recreation of real events.
Producer Kristian Eek said "maybe 80 percent" of the film matched the facts of the case.
"We weren't making a film to explain or justify anything," he said.

"To me, it points the finger at a problem and asks a lot of questions without trying to
solve them."

Peacocke said he was grabbed by the story of Singh's murder, because of the failure of
first responders at the scene - police waited outside Singh's store for 26 minutes, despite
111 staff having been assured the armed robbers had fled - and because it was such a
vivid local story.
"It's a story that could only happen in Auckland. There were people of almost every
culture involved in this event."

Making the film involved a process of cultural immersion, said Eek. The pair interviewed
people who knew both the victim and the offenders, and shot scenes in Takanini's Sikh
gurdwara, or temple. Singh's family read the script and gave their approval before a scene
was shot.

Daljit Singh said the Sikh community was initally apprehensive. "We were told by the
community to watch closely what would be published. But they are supportive, they're
thanking," he said.

"It's a good way of spreading the message. It's going to make people remember how the
family suffered because of this incident."

Last month, 22-year-old Anitelea Chan Kee was found guilty of Singh's murder. His five
co-accused were acquitted of murder but were found, or pleaded, guilty to aggravated
robbery.

Last week the Sunday Star-Times reported Singh's widow Harjinder Kaur was angered
that Chan Kee's sentencing was delayed after he expressed an interest in meeting with her
family to apologise in a restorative justice meeting.

He will now be sentenced on May 7, after the family rejected the proposal.

Daljit Singh last week said the family would be open to meeting with Chan Kee's family
or leaders of his community after sentencing.

Please answer these questions based on your reading of the article.

1. What is the name of the movie and who is the director?
_Name is Manurewa. Director is Sam Peacocke.
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2. From whose perspective are the tragic events told from in the short film?
Police and ambulance officers, customers and neighbors.
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3. What is the story about?
_ Slightly more focused on the murderer than the guy who gets murdered.
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4. Do you think the film was realistic? How was this shown in the article?
Yes, it was realistic film for me. In article says it's a story that could only happen in
Auckland. There were people of almost every culture involved in this event. That
mean is it could happen in real world. Director said it is a 80% fact.
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5. Why was the director interested in making this film?
Making the film involved a process of cultural immersion, said Eek. The pair
interviewed people who knew both the victim and the offenders, and shot scenes
in Takanini's Sikh gurdwara, or temple. Singh's family read the script and gave
their approval before a scene was shot.
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6. Why was the widow angry at the sentencing process?
Because, showing that real murder situation is suffering victim of that case. Therefore,
director need to apology to victim family but, director didn’t come to apology to widow
yet. May be widow doesn’t want to remember that murder.
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