\u201cI woke up to that police knock, which everybody knows. It\u2019s that very specific police knock,\u201d she tells the Herald of that moment, forever ingrained in her mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cMove,\u201d an officer said, barging into the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Simon*?\u201d<\/p>\n
Day\u2019s blood boiled. Not this again. They were searching for a previous tenant, one they\u2019d inquired about multiple times before.<\/p>\n
But there was an additional stress to contend with this time around, one that could throw the small sense of stability she treasured into a spiral.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, one of my coping mechanisms was marijuana, not that I was smoking a lot. This one specific time, I\u2019d left all my stuff out,\u201d Day recalls, admitting she had long struggled with depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally, it was okay because no one would come into my room.\u201d <\/p>\n
With one officer quickly getting the scent, he began questioning her. <\/p>\n
She couldn\u2019t lie, so she truthfully told him about her stress.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018oh, what could a 22-year-old have stress about?\u2019 I looked him dead in the eye and said, \u2018custody of five of my siblings, actually\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a powerful statement, but not an uncommon one for many South Auckland caregivers, Day says. <\/p>\n
And it\u2019s also why she, years later, decided to make a short film about the experience that night. A film that is premiering at M\u0101oriland Film Festival this month. <\/p>\n
She called it Dawn.<\/p>\n
Jasmine Day on set filming Dawn. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n
Under the bridge<\/p>\n
A whiteboard full of goals hangs on the wall of Day\u2019s \u014ctaki home. Setting goals helped her through some of the lowest times in her life. <\/p>\n
One was also there during the police raid all those years ago. There\u2019s a nod to it in her film. <\/p>\n
Day was born \u201cunder the bridge\u201d as people in the community like to joke about the Papakura maternity ward. <\/p>\n
Her childhood was tough, marred by abuse and trauma.<\/p>\n
Day\u2019s oldest brother was wh\u0101ngaied (informal adoption under tikanga M\u0101ori) because her mother was young when she had him. Day and her other siblings also ended up living apart from their mother, though she and Day still talk. <\/p>\n
\u201c[Mum] kind of spiralled down after we got taken off her… she had all these habits that a lot of displaced or urbanised M\u0101ori had. And I feel for her,\u201d Day says.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up… I didn\u2019t necessarily resent her, but I wondered \u2018how did all of that happen?\u2019 When I became an adult and became a mum myself, I was able to ask her those questions. I understood it. I was like, oh my gosh, she was just stuck with traumatic experiences that happened to her, and she wasn\u2019t able to heal from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s turbulence meant Day and her siblings spent a lot of time in the care of her aunty – a person she has enormous gratitude for. With her nurturing came a love of learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really, really blessed that I ended up with my aunty because she taught us discipline,\u201d Day says. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy aunty taught us that school matters. I was rewarded for being a top student in my class. I ended up in Mathex teams every year. I got to learn an educational blueprint because of how they nurtured me in that space.\u201d<\/p>\n
To this day, her aunty still calls her a \u201cbrainbox\u201d. <\/p>\n
Papakura High School was also the start of Day\u2019s creative journey. Drama, dance, music, travel, and art design were her best subjects. She was \u201con stage a lot and loved it\u201d, ended up at MIT where she studied performing arts for two years. <\/p>\n
But back at home, things were still difficult, and the struggles continued.<\/p>\n
Jasmine Day found out pretty quick the realities of making a film, but her positive attitude and drive never failed. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n
Holiday heartbreak<\/p>\n
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle was sitting on the bookshelf of a friend\u2019s place in Byron Bay, a few years later. Day picked it up and started reading.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in the perfect place to practise presence,\u201d she remembers thinking.<\/p>\n
Day had initially gone to Australia for a holiday, but she stayed. And her life grew. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the perfect place for me to heal from an abusive relationship. I stayed there for about nine months. I got myself my own place. I got a job. I ended up meeting someone else, and it was all very positive,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
A trip back to South Auckland to visit friends and wh\u0101nau was supposed to be celebratory and simple. It was anything but. <\/p>\n
Day was suddenly drawn into a family hui as a mediator with what was then known as Child, Youth and Family (now Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children) when one of her brothers got into trouble with the law. <\/p>\n
\u201cMum was like, it\u2019s pretty bad, and passed me the file, his file. I read it, and I bawled my eyes out.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur other sibling, who is a year older than the sibling who got in trouble, was constantly in [trouble] with the cops, so with two of the siblings now in trouble with the law, that was enough for them to state that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CYFs worker said Day\u2019s mum \u201cwasn\u2019t fit to parent\u201d. Though Day still doesn\u2019t believe that was entirely true.<\/p>\n
But someone else needed to look after her siblings. And after numerous conversations with the government agency – and disagreements within the family – Day became that someone. She was 22. <\/p>\n
In the years after the police raid, things slowly started to look up for Day. She was working multiple jobs to make ends meet, but her brother\u2019s behaviour improved, things were feeling more stable and Day was starting her own family with her partner.<\/p>\n
She also started looking back to her university days and the joy she got out of making art – and making a difference. It began calling to her again.<\/p>\n
Jasmine Day defines a story of hope. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n
A creative calling<\/p>\n
The 312 hub in Onehunga was a safe space – a place where Day\u2019s work could thrive around like-minded people. A place where she hosted fundraisers, community dance and media events and Boosted campaigns in an effort to expand her own creative output.<\/p>\n
Eddy Royal, the founder and director of creative agency Curative NZ, met Day at an event she was hosting in South Auckland. <\/p>\n
\u201cJasmine had a huge passion for her community, and she talked with me about some of the projects that she already had underway, and some of the dreams she had too,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She describes Day as being \u201celectric with energy, with her own creativity, with her deep belief\u201d despite the challenges she\u2019s faced. <\/p>\n
Day was one to watch, and Royal knew this.<\/p>\n
Soon enough, Royal extended Day an opportunity, giving her a choice to either get some support for her projects from Curative, or work for the organisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much of the work she was doing was voluntary. If Jas saw a need, she just stepped in and did it – and I know she still does. She\u2019s always supported all of her friends in their creative pursuits. And she just makes things happen,\u201d Royal says.<\/p>\n
\u201cJas is her own person. With or without Curative, she was always going to someone to keep an eye on. I knew that from my very first conversation with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jasmine Day is now balancing her fulltime job and her creative calling. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n
Finding a voice<\/p>\n
From one stepping stone to the next, Day excelled in the creative arts circuit, despite a \u201ctrial-by-fire\u201d learning the harsh realities of applying for dwindling arts funding in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
She became involved with the M\u0101oriland Film Festival trust, working in an administrative role. A chance opportunity to pitch her own ideas at an event led to the dream of getting her first film made into a reality.<\/p>\n
With support from Ng\u0101 Pakiaka, the rangatahi filmmaking collective of M\u0101oriland Charitable Trust, Day shot Dawn in South Auckland in December. <\/p>\n
A fictional retelling of the police raid her family experienced, she wants it to debunk the myths of what it means to be a South Aucklander.<\/p>\n
Last year, Libby Hakaraia, Kaitaki P\u016brakau at M\u0101oriland, described Day\u2019s project as a \u201ctimely and necessary story\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cJas is shining a light on the quiet realities faced by so many wh\u0101nau \u2014 realities made harder by the way our systems and attitudes fail them. This film reminds us that the way we treat each other can either uplift or trap people in cycles of poverty. Jas has the courage to call that out, and the storytelling power to move us towards compassion and change. That\u2019s why we\u2019re backing her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actor Ehetere Rua in a still from Dawn. Photo \/ M\u0101oriland Film Festival<\/p>\n
The filming process, while challenging, was incredible to experience, Day says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe wrap-around support I had was amazing, and I think that\u2019s a testament to the amount of love I\u2019ve given other people in their creative projects. It\u2019s definitely come back tenfold in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now 31 and on the verge of introducing Dawn to the world, Day has a great job in the travel industry, a loving partner, and two kids of her own (aged 4 and 6).<\/p>\n
She doesn\u2019t look back on her upbringing with malice or regret, but with reflection, learning and healing. She is inspired by growing up in South Auckland – and she wants other people to be as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the culture. The fact that there\u2019s a story no matter where you look, no matter who you talk to. South Auckland was literally built on people who were pushed out those ways during the dawn raids, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re built on a system that wasn\u2019t designed to allow us to thrive. And still, a lot of us get out there and we see the world, and we do great things, and we are so resilient, and we have pushed through adversities that would have seen most people fail.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we do it with a smile on our face and love in our heart\u201d.<\/p>\n