A Shocking Reminder

The first installment of this two-part documentary chronicles the effects of Christchurch’s September 2010 earthquake on various everyday people. They have seen damage to their city that they would never have imagined — houses have been destroyed, liquefaction has entered their vocabulary, and the ground beneath their feet can no longer be trusted. Miraculously, there has been no loss of life. As seismologists seek to understand what happened, the interviewees tentatively rebuild disrupted lives, but the fatal quakes of the 22nd of February cruelly derail that recovery.

The second half of this documentary, following the effects of the Christchurch 2010 earthquakes, revisits its subjects in the days after the catastrophic events of the 22nd of February 2011. Devastation is now widespread, the death toll is growing, and aftershocks number in the hundreds. Over the next eight months, seriously injured bodies mend. Still, while there are moments of hope, lives are on hold, and nerves are being stretched to their breaking point by the constantly moving ground, recurring liquefaction, and uncertainty about whether charming homes can, or should, be rebuilt.