becoming a carer

a film about process.

featherStrength, by Jon Earle

Doc Edge 2026 winner, Best New Zealand Feature Doc Edge 2026 winner, Best New Zealand Editing

Doc Edge, an Academy Award qualifying festival.

“I have not wanted to live this life.”

A father films his way through a decade of care. Not to make a film, but to cope. And he keeps going. He filmed, directed, edited and scored it himself.

featherStrength is not a film about overcoming. It is a film about continuing: living the life you didn’t plan for, and finding what carries you through it.

It is made for anyone who has faced prolonged challenge, and for those who have no bridge out to the world.

read the director’s statement


“I came out with a sense of real joy. There’s a hope.”

Audience, The Roxy, Wellington

hear what the film does →

The five featherStrength panels hung side by side on black the installation · five panels made alongside the film →

"How you choose to navigate your own wilderness is a journey we all need to make".

Jon Earle

A feather alone can change itself. Feathers together can SOAR.

add your feather

a new feather every weekday ↓