LOMU is a theatrical documentary about the legendary All Black, Jonah Lomu. An intimate and heartfelt character study tracing his Tongan upbringing, meteoric rise to fame, and the complicated personal and health battles he faced at the pinnacle of world rugby.

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STORY 

LOMU is a theatrical documentary about the legendary All Black, Jonah Lomu. An intimate and heartfelt character study tracing his Tongan upbringing, meteoric rise to fame, and the complicated personal and health battles he faced at the pinnacle of world rugby.

Jonah Lomu's rugby highlights are well documented: youngest ever All Black at the age of nineteen, player of the tournament at the 1995 South Africa Rugby World Cup and record holder for most tries scored in World Cup history. LOMU goes beyond the sporting achievements to reveal the layers of Jonah Lomu's life off the field – a warrior who fought against extraordinary odds to wear the All Blacks jersey.

With unprecedented access to Jonah's family and archives, the documentary goes deeper than ever before, correcting sensationalist narratives, confronting uncomfortable truths, and revealing the real man behind the myth. This is not just the story of a rugby legend, but of a human being whose strength, power and legacy continue to resonate long after the final whistle.

FILMMAKERS

Gavin FitzGerald | DIRECTOR

Gavin FitzGerald is an IFTA-nominated film director whose slate of internationally acclaimed documentaries and television series has established him as a leading Irish voice in factual storytelling. His work often explores compelling sporting worlds and subcultures, driven by exceptional characters and rendered with a cinematic, intimate style. He began his career directing commercially successful, access-driven feature documentaries including Conor McGregor: Notorious and Liam Gallagher: As It Was, both of which went on to be acquired by Netflix. He followed these with the award-winning festival favourite Million Dollar Pigeons and a four-part boxing series Stable: The Boxing Game, later acquired by BBC. He is currently completing Soul of the Sea, an Irish-language documentary about a declining rowing tradition in the west of Ireland, supported by Screen Ireland and TG4. His latest feature, LOMU, explores the complexities of identity and Tongan culture through the life of one of rugby’s most iconic figures, Jonah Lomu, and is currently screening at festivals worldwide.

Vea MAFILE’O | DIRECTOR

Vea Mafile’o is an accomplished producer-director with over 20 years of experience in TV and film. Her short film LEA TUPU'ANGA premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2024 and won NZ`s Best Short Film at NZIFF and Show Me Shorts Best Film 2024. Vea's feature documentary, FOR MY FATHER'S KINGDOM, premiered at Berlinale in 2019, alongside her short film documentary TOA`IPUAPUAGA and drama LIULU, (which she production designed). Notably, Vea made New Zealand history as the first Pacific female director to helm a prime-time TV drama. Her direction on THE PANTHERS earned her a nomination for Best Drama Director at the 2022 NZ Television Awards. The series won numerous awards, including Best NZ Drama and Best Pasifika Show. Vea is also the founder of PISA (Pacific Island Screen Artists), The Nuku'alofa Film Festival, and the Okalani Film Festival. Her newest venture, Taro Patch Creative, is a vibrant studio and creative hub in South Auckland dedicated to promoting brown storytelling. 

VICTORIA BARRELL | Producer

Victoria Barrell is an experienced, strategically focused production executive and Co-Founder and Managing Director of award-winning Sylver Entertainment, established in 2020. Based in Dorset, Sylver specialises in premium long-form series, theatrical and branded content for the international marketplace. A PGA-nominated producer, Victoria is known for securing unparalleled access to the world's elite sports figures and for leveraging an exceptional network of talent relationships spanning directors, producers, editors, and writers to bring landmark stories to the screen. Her critically acclaimed films have screened at festivals worldwide and earned multiple award nominations, with Victoria equally recognised for her expertise in structuring and financing models, working with the BFI, bringing her films to theatrical release and to top UK broadcasters, placing her at the forefront of elevating the premium sports documentary sector. Her credits include Amar, Akbar & Tony, Svengali, Bobby Robson: More Than A Manager, The Edge, McEnroe (Sports Emmy-winning), The Greatest Game, Hill (The Race Media Awards winner), Schmeichel, Butcher: Invisible Wounds and Lomu.

SIMON LAZENBY | Producer

Simon Lazenby is a BAFTA award winning broadcast journalist with over 25 years experience in Sports Television. He has been lead presenter of Sky Sports F1 coverage since 2012 and led Sky’s rugby coverage for the 10 years prior to that. Twice nominated for Sports Journalist of the year, Simon has a strong track record of storytelling from both sides of the camera. With an extensive network built up over two decades, as creative director Simon identifies IP and builds out the creative teams to help steer those ideas through development to a finished product. Simon executive produced Sylver’s first feature documentary McEnroe both produced and executive produced The Greatest Game. He is currently producing Hill, Schmeichel and Lomu.

EMMA SLADE | Producer

Owner of the prolific New Zealand-based film and television company, Velvet Moss (previously known as Firefly Films), Emma Slade is known for cultivating a diverse slate, with dynamic film makers and talented cast. Emma is currently delivering Natalie Boltt’s debut feature HOLY DAYS, starring Judy Davis, Jacki Weaver and Miriam Margolyes, while simultaneously in post-production on LOMU, an official UK/NZ co-production on the rugby superstar, Jonah Lomu. Emma’s latest film BOOKWORM, starring Elijah Wood, Nell Fisher and Michael Smiley, opened Fantasia International Film Festival in August 2024 winning the Audience Award for Best International Film. Recent release UPROAR, starring Julian Dennison, Minnie Driver and Rhys Darby played on every screen in Aotearoa New Zealand, after premiering at TIFF to rave reviews. Simultaneously, MISTER ORGAN, New Zealand’s highest grossing feature documentary for 2022, has been picked up by Netflix and selected as New York Times Top Critic’s Pick. Emma’s slate includes absurd comedy, NUDE TUESDAY, from director Armagan Ballantyne (Sydney Film Festival, Tribeca and Edinburgh), THE JUSTICE OF BUNNY KING (2021 Tribeca Film Festival) and COME TO DADDY, an NZ/Irish/Canadian official co-production, which premiered at Tribeca 2019. The film won Best Director (Ant Timpson) and Best Actor (Elijah Wood) at the Toronto After Dark Festival 2019. In 2017, her young adult thriller THE CHANGEOVER starring Timothy Spall (Mr Turner) and Melanie Lynskey (The Intervention), was in competition at the Alice Nella Citta, Venice Film Festival. Earlier that year, Emma produced INTO THE RAINBOW, which was the first Chinese/NZ co- production, starring Willow Shields (Hunger Games) and the Brazilian/NZ feature LITTLE SECRET, which was nominated as Brazil’s Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film 2017.

VICTORIA DABBS | Producer

Victoria Dabbs recently completed production on Nathalie Boltt’s debut feature HOLY DAYS, starring Judy Davis, Joanna Scanlan, Miriam Margolyes. Family film BOOKWORM, starring Elijah Wood and Nell Fisher (Stranger Things s5) received the 2024 Fantastic Festival Audience Award and UPROAR, starring Julian Dennison, Minnie Driver and Rhys Darby has had its premiere at TIFF ’23. Victoria has commenced packaging AT THE END OF THE WORLD WE LEARN TO DANCE, UK/NZ/Taiwan co-production WITH LOVE, Vincent Ward’s epic drama HANNAH AND REBECCA, Ant Timpson’s THE SALAMANDER LIVES TWICE and the NZ/UK war film UPHAM. She is currently in development on NZ/Scottish co-production television series, NIGHT VISION. Victoria is an international Producer, Line Producer and Production Accountant who has worked on films and television series in Europe, Asia and Australasia. Since 2003, she has worked on primarily independent feature films, including Dexter Fletcher’s SUNSHINE ON LEITH, Terence Davies’ SUNSET SONG and Michael Caton-Jones’ OUR LADIES, Nicolas Winding Refn’s VALHALLA RISING, Peter Mullan’s NED’S, the BBC’s ABC MURDERS and THE SINGAPORE GRIP, Australian/Scottish co-production FALLING FOR FIGARO, UK TV series ANNIKA, UK BFI funded independent feature GIRL and WORMEATER for Disney as well as New Zealand productions such as independent feature WHINA, BAD BEHAVIOUR and documentaries STYLEBENDER, NEVER LOOK AWAY and THE LORD OF LIES.

ISEULT HOWLETT | Editor

Iseult Howlett is an award-winning filmmaker with over two decades of experience crafting compelling stories for screen. Iseult’s recent editing work includes IN THE SHADOW OF BEIRUT, which was Ireland’s Official Entry for Best International Feature at the 96th Academy Awards 2024 and won Best Feature Documentary at Doc Edge New Zealand; I dream in photos, winner of Outstanding International Documentary at 2023 Newport Beach Film Festival; and BIRDSONG, which is multi award-winning including Jackson Wild Film Festival 2024 and International Wildlife Film Festival Montana 2024. Other projects of note are: Jim Sheridan’s landmark Sky Studio’s series MURDER AT THE COTTAGE, scripted drama EARLY DAYS and Iseult’s IFTA nominated directorial debut THE GRASS CEILING. In addition to her extensive editing work, Iseult has written for TV and is currently developing a drama series for television with Nickie Sault’s Class 5 and Shinawil.

TOM HODGE | COMPOSER

Tom Hodge is an Ivor Novello Award winning composer standing at the forefront of contemporary soundscapes for film and television. His score for Aoife Kelleher’s feature documentary TESTIMONY won Best Original Film Score at this year’s Ivors, further cementing his reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in original score. Tom’s acclaimed work with Academy Award winning director Kevin Macdonald includes THE MAURITANIAN, starring Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster, and Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as HIGH & LOW: JOHN GALLIANO and the forthcoming action thriller THE RUNNER. His other score credits include Amir Bar Lev’s THE LAST FIRST: WINTER K2, which opened the Sundance Film Festival in 2026, the BBC/PBS series RISE OF THE NAZIS, which earned him his first Ivor Novello nomination in 2019, and two critically acclaimed primetime dramas for James Watkins, Emmy winning MCMAFIA and THE IPCRESS FILE. He has also scored Martin Campbell’s action thriller CLEANER, starring Daisy Ridley, and Ed Lovelace’s award winning documentary NAME ME LAWAND, alongside providing additional music for Netflix’s blockbuster EXTRACTION 2, starring Chris Hemsworth. A virtuoso pianist and clarinetist, Tom continues to push the boundaries of experimental neoclassical music with work spanning feature films, documentaries, TV dramas, ballet productions, and numerous award-winning advertising campaigns.

REVIEWS

“an exceptional film… far more than a simple sports documentary… a tender but unsentimental study of what it is to be a son, and a father. Brilliant.” - The Conversation

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