‘Grounded, personal and quietly determined’ is how filmmaker Liam Hall describes the grassroots movement to save New Zealand’s backcountry huts. He hopes his  documentary about Permolat, The Hut Keepers, carries some of the same energy.

How did this story come onto your radar?

My mother’s partner is Andrew Buglass, who started Permolat. They got together 20 years ago, so I grew up hearing about what they were doing. I was slowly getting into filmmaking, and five years ago Mum said, ‘Hey, someone’s got to do a story on this, it should be you.’ I didn’t feel ready to take on a big story. A previous employer had given me some feedback that really sat with me: you make pretty pictures but you’ve got to work on telling stories. Since then I’ve tried hard to learn more about story and understanding the importance of it to people.   I realised, I do have this really good story just sitting there. 

Had you done much tramping before making the film?

Mum had tried to drag me out in the past. When I was 12 or 13, she and a friend of hers took me tramping and Mum fell and broke her leg. There happened to be some military medics hiking behind us and they set up a bivvy and got us out the next day. That was a pivotal memory of tramping for me. 

With The Hut Keepers, I ended up getting heli’d into two locations. We did walk out, and one of those walks, from Top Olderog Biv, I did with Andrew. It was pretty gnarly. I was happy I was with him and that he knew what he was doing. 

How did you come to live in Canada?

I was doing snowboard filmmaking and a friend who owned a clothing company asked me to make some promotional material for him. It was a free trip to  Canada, so of course I went.

I met this really pretty girl working as a liftie. We ended up getting married about 12 years ago and now we’ve got three little ones.

What are some takeaways from working solo on this project?

Collaborate! Get other people involved, get other perspectives. I think it was a cool experience to do it myself, to see where I could go with it, but after finishing the film there’s a million things I would change. If I had collaborated with other people that change would have happened during the filmmaking process. 

Could Permolat have started anywhere other than the West Coast?

It was a really unique situation – that’s something everyone shared with me. The people within DOC at the time were very supportive; they knew Andrew, they had been friends during high school, so they were able to help each other. Spending time with Andrew and others who dedicated themselves to protecting these huts and tracks reminded me how action often begins – with a few people deciding to care enough to try. 

Find out where to watch The Hut Keepers at www.hutkeepersfilm.com