Short film about Wellington rugby player in all Japanese team

Former Northern United junior player and St Pat’s Town student Jared James is the only foreigner in an all Japanese rugby team, Shizuoka Rugby Club.

24-year old Jared recently graduated from Victoria University before heading to Japan to teach English. It wasn’t until a workmate suggested he should play rugby that he rediscovered the sport. Rugby has been an opportunity for Jared to find a support system and friends in Japan.

Next month a small team of kiwi filmmakers will travel to Japan to shoot a documentary about grassroots rugby. The documentary titled Union will follow Jared as he tackles cultural isolation and discovers strength amongst strangers. The story explores the power of rugby to bring people together, even when those people don't even speak the same language.

Rugby is more than the headlines, it is a game which encourages togetherness, tenacity, learning and respect. In the run-up to the 2019 Rugby World cup in Japan, Union will showcase the universality of the game and bring our two countries closer together. 

Speaking about the upcoming project filmmaker Jericho Rock-Archer says:

“Rugby is valuable as more than just a sport, in Japan it’s being used by Kiwi’s to reconnect with their country, and to find support in a new isolating environment, that's what this film is all about.“

“Union is a personal story of redemption by rugby – a film that reveals to us the essence of a game, which is too often concealed by scandal and stardom.”

Jericho Rock-Archer will be joined by brothers Joshua and Phillip Rollo on this project. The trio love rugby and are looking forward to bringing a positive story about the sport to life. Once he heard Jared’s story, Joshua Rollo said he knew it would be a good base for a short documentary. "We're really passionate about it, it's a cool story and would be amazing if rugby fans could support us, even if people wanted to donate $10. Everything helps.”

The Loading Docs initiative is funded by NZ On Air's Digital Media Fund with the support of the New Zealand Film Commission and Te Mangai Paho. The team have reached their first goal in a crowdfunding campaign but they are now needing to raise more funds to give this uplifting story the production values it deserves. All funds will go back towards accessing better camera gear and sound equipment.

Their crowd-funding campaign is active until 31 March at: https://www.boosted.org.nz/projects/union