"Gloriavale" Doco Makers Open Up About Their Feelings on the Series

We've all seen the first two docos about the residents of Gloriavale, the controversial South Island Christian community that lives segregated from the outside world.

But the husband-and-wife team behind the award-winning series admit they have differing opinions about how Gloriavale's God-fearing residents live their lives.

Amanda Evans, the show's director and producer, feels conflicted after her documentaries air.

"I'm agnostic, I'm a feminist, I could easily make judgments about them," says Evans, who has grown close to Gloriavale's residents over the seven years she's been documenting their lives.

"Sometimes I think, 'That's so cool. Isn't that lovely? Ten minutes later, I think, 'Oh, I could never live like that.

"That's so wrong on so many levels.'

"An hour later I'm thinking, 'Oh wow, that's so neat, I could really live here."

Meanwhile, as the show's cameraman, Evans' partner Ivars Berzins tries to stay as impartial as possible.

"I try not to have opinions," he says. "The way I best do my job is to observe and record by being as open to other people's way of thinking as I can."

Gloriavale have little contact with the outside world, access to media and the internet is heavily restricted, limits are placed on clothing and diets, marriages are arranged informally, and if anyone decide to leave, they are ex-communicated.

Evans and Berzins believe their latest instalment, called A Woman's Place, which focuses on Gloriavale's "openly submissive" female residents and their role in the community, is likely to cause as much of a rukus as their first two did.

It dives deep into the male-dominated society, following the roles of women who are relegated to kitchen or laundry duties while men undertake more physical activities, like building or factory work.

Much of its screen time is devoted to Dove Love, a 22-year-old kitchen manager who is preparing for her upcoming wedding to 17-year-old apprentice builder Watchful Stedfast.

When asked about his upcoming nuptials by the documentary makers, Stedfast says: "She's willing to submit to me, which I feel is very important for a marriage to last."

Dove Love and Watchful Stedfast from the TVNZ documentary Gloriavale: A Woman's Place. 

Evans knows statements like this, when framed against contemporary society, will shock viewers.

"They're a lovely young couple and I just know people are going to get on Twitter and bag them," she says. "People can be incredibly vicious [and] those girls haven't asked for this attention.

"[Gloriavale] is putting these people out to represent the community and exposing them personally to all sorts of things."

Berzins admits they both feel guilt for the attention their documentaries bring to Gloriavale.

"The ladies who answer the phones in the reception area ... they get massive amounts of prank calls [after each episode airs]. I think that's one of the things they don't look forward to." The couple, along with sound engineer Tony Spear, film for two or three days at a time, needing around six visits to complete each 40- to 50-minute documentary.

Love, the main subject in A Women's Place, says she didn't always enjoy having the cameras around.

"At first I wasn't too keen on having my wedding filmed, but I put my trust in God and I had peace that He was in control," she told the Herald via email.

"Although I can't say that I enjoy the cameras or being filmed, I am happy for the opportunity to testify of God's goodness and the blessings of our Christian community life."

The documentary also captures an outing to a Christchurch mall, where several residents attract attention because of their uniforms but end up taking selfies with fellow shoppers.

"I think I have this lifestyle nailed, I have access to all this choice, I think I'm really happy," says Evans.

"Then I go down there and see all these people with no access to anything, and they seem happier than me."

She ends with what might be the perfect summation of our endless fascination with Gloriavale.

"The world is messy. When you see Gloriavale, they haven't got all the answers, clearly, but they've got some of them.

"You see it and you feel angry, but you also feel charmed."

Gloriavale: A Woman's Place
Screening on Wednesday on TV2 at 8.30pm
Also: Previous instalments A World Apart and Life and Death available via www.tvnz.co.nz/ondemand

-NZ Herald