At her grandmother Tuiās funeral, Chelsie Preston Crayford played Beethovenās Moonlight Sonata on the piano. It was the same one sheād played over and over while visiting her at her rest home, āand she would say, youāll play that at my funeral one dayā, says Crayford.ā
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Weeks after the funeral, then 19, Crayford was moving into her first flat, and was rifling through records at the Newtown Salvation Army store. She stopped in her tracks. āI found a record of Beethoven sonatas and I pulled it out, and it had my grandmaās handwriting on the corner of it,ā she remembers. āIt said āTui Prestonā, and it was this record of Beethoven sonatas, and sheād circled ālovelyā next to [Moonlight Sonata].āā
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Three years earlier, before Crayford and her mother knew Tui was developing dementia, Tui had donated most of her possessions and abruptly moved out of the house the three women shared. āThree years later, after my grandma had donated all of her records and things, I found it at the Salvation Army,ā says Crayford. āThat was the starting point for Caterpillar.āā
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Crayford, now in her late 30s, is referring to her directorial debut, set to release in cinemas next week. Drawing from her own upbringing and set in a memory of 2003 Wellington, it follows three women: Cassie, a precocious but emotionally adrift teenager; Maxine, her firecracker filmmaker mother; and Huia, their quiet, observant matriarch.ā
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"The thing I wanted to explore using this maternal line is the complexity of these mother-daughter relationships, and all of these various roles we inhabit,ā says Crayford. āHow do we find space for ourselves inside of that, and the ways that families smash up against each other. Your needs are colliding all the time, and itās a constant balancing act.āā
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For the cover of our sister magazine Your Weekend, Crayford tells George Fenwick about the different creative energies she draws from acting and directing, what she learned from her own mother, and why her heart belongs in Wellington. Full story at the link in bio.ā
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šøabiabzroseā
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@george_fenwick ā
Shot at
@westlynngarden ā
![At her grandmother Tuiās funeral, Chelsie Preston Crayford played Beethovenās Moonlight Sonata on the piano. It was the same one sheād played over and over while visiting her at her rest home, āand she would say, youāll play that at my funeral one dayā, says Crayford.ā ā Weeks after the funeral, then 19, Crayford was moving into her first flat, and was rifling through records at the Newtown Salvation Army store. She stopped in her tracks. āI found a record of Beethoven sonatas and I pulled it out, and it had my grandmaās handwriting on the corner of it,ā she remembers. āIt said āTui Prestonā, and it was this record of Beethoven sonatas, and sheād circled ālovelyā next to [Moonlight Sonata].āā ā Three years earlier, before Crayford and her mother knew Tui was developing dementia, Tui had donated most of her possessions and abruptly moved out of the house the three women shared. āThree years later, after my grandma had donated all of her records and things, I found it at the Salvation Army,ā says Crayford. āThat was the starting point for Caterpillar.āā ā Crayford, now in her late 30s, is referring to her directorial debut, set to release in cinemas next week. Drawing from her own upbringing and set in a memory of 2003 Wellington, it follows three women: Cassie, a precocious but emotionally adrift teenager; Maxine, her firecracker filmmaker mother; and Huia, their quiet, observant matriarch.ā ā "The thing I wanted to explore using this maternal line is the complexity of these mother-daughter relationships, and all of these various roles we inhabit,ā says Crayford. āHow do we find space for ourselves inside of that, and the ways that families smash up against each other. Your needs are colliding all the time, and itās a constant balancing act.āā ā For the cover of our sister magazine Your Weekend, Crayford tells George Fenwick about the different creative energies she draws from acting and directing, what she learned from her own mother, and why her heart belongs in Wellington. Full story at the link in bio.ā ā abiabzroseā @george_fenwickā Shot at @westlynngardenā](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6727415072282263255238_0_9816a21acc4739ad6d08ca9dc5829973.jpg?o=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&h=2850e6bdfe52a48fec27566f12d54c81)
