FASD-CAN has won an international award for our short film about our ‘Tītoki’ weekends which support rangatahi and adults living with FASD!
The RUNNER UP award was bestowed at the inaugural FASD Film Festival at the Canadian FASD Conference. Canada is recognised globally as the leader in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder research and support. FASD Navigator for Te Korowai Trust, Jacqui Mikkelson, was there in person to pick up the award on our behalf from a sparkling Miles Himmelreich, a member of the ALC Changemakers.
The film was made to capture the impact of the camps from the perspective of the rangatahi / young people and kaiārahi / leaders who participate in them, as well as the caregivers or parents who come with them. The weekends are about whanaungatanga / connection, inclusion, self-advocacy and empowerment for our young people with FASD, and our participants learn about facing common challenges and finding strength together.
The film showcases the value the young people see in meeting others with FASD who understand their experiences. It also looks at the workshops and processes undertaken which enabled their voices of lived experience to be heard when it came to the creation of the eight ‘key messages’ they have been working on over 2025.
The group feels these messages are especially important because FASD is a hidden disability that often results in young people with FASD being misunderstood and judged – they wanted to encourage more understanding and empathy from the general public, as well as the many health professionals they encounter as part of their experience.
Project lead, FASD-CAN Navigator Anna Gundesen has worked extremely hard with very small budgets alongside administrator Paige Saxby on setting up the weekends for the last couple of years. With a direction background herself, Anna worked with cameraman Jeff McDonald and editor Bridget Lyons to create the short film, which was re-cut and entered at the last minute into the Film Festival.
“What a fabulous thrill it is to have our wee documentary film accepted into the Film Festival – and now to receive an award!” Anna said in her acceptance speech last night (via Zoom). “I’d like to acknowledge our cameraman and our editor for their expertise, as well as everyone else involved in helping make this happen.”
“It’s a privilege to be the ongoing project lead of the TīToki initiative. This award is really for the individuals and families featured in the film in recognition of their courage, their confidence and their participation. I hadn't realised that our camp innovation was a global first, so it's wonderful to have this opportunity to share it with the rest of the world!"
The camps and the leadership development programme is now called Tītoki, after one of our native trees. The group, with the support of FASD-CAN board member Darryl Roycroft, chose this name from a Māori whakatauki / proverb: ‘Hei te tau Tītoki’ which translates to ‘when the Tītoki blooms’.
“The Tītoki tree blooms at random, and like it, our rangatahi and adults with FASD bloom in their own time. Every kernel holds great potential and given time, that potential reveals itself.”
Click here for a more in-depth article about our Tītoki camp in February 2025 at which the film was made, including activities and some details comments from individuals and caregivers on how it impacted them.
Our fifth Tītoki camp happens in November 2025, with 28 individuals registered ranging in age from 16 through to 41 years old – each coming with a family member or a support worker.
Watch the award-winning film below (10 mins).
