HOW come a 46-year old Newtown librarian, born and raised in New Zealand and with little filmmaking experience, is flying to Iraq to make a documentary on Assyrian people and their culture? It comes down to curiosity, compassion and the desire to tell a good story.
BORN in rural Waipukurau, Hawkes Bay, where the cool kids were tanned, had swimming pools and ponies, Helen Donnelly was pale, bookish, and lived in town, with no place for galloping or splashing about. Donnelly grew up in the Fundamental Christian church, and always had what she calls an “outsider mentality”.
“I think that’s why I have an intense interest in minorities, or those that are different and hidden. I was pretty hidden,” she says.
When, at age 10, Donnelly’s parents split up, her father moved to Wellington. During visits to see him she fell in love with the capital, but it wasn’t until she was 27 that she “got up the courage” to move here. Now, 20 years on, Donnelly is an increasingly regular sight at local Assyrian gatherings where she snaps photos, asks questions and pokes around with her camera.
Donnelly says there are between 1500-2000 Assyrians in Wellington.
Assyrian people today are the Christian descendants of ancient Assyrians, who were inhabitants of Mesopotamia, or the ‘cradle of civilisation’, corresponding to present-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran, which sat between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Assyrians have a long history of persecution. Donnelly says that while Saddam Hussein was tolerant of their Christianity, independence in nationality was not respected.
“He didn’t want them defining themselves as anything other than Iraqi. Their language wasn’t taught in schools, they weren’t allowed political parties, they weren’t even allowed to call themselves Assyrian, they had to say they were ‘Arab Christians’,” she says.
Donnelly’s interest in the Assyrian world was sparked in 2005.
“There was a young Assyrian girl who used to hang round the library. I asked about her culture and she showed me some stuff on the internet,” she explains.
A keen photographer, Donnelly later found herself taking pictures at an Assyrian wedding, complete with large hall decorated top to bottom in drapes of white cloth and sparkling lights, hundreds of guests, and lots and lots of dancing.
“I like [Assyrian weddings] so much. There’s lots of music and not too many boring speeches. Most important is that it’s not so much about the bride and groom, but more about community and celebrating culture.”
Donnelly was “hooked and fascinated” by anything Assyrian, and even began attending their church sometimes.
 “They can be really strict believers in Christianity, and I don’t join them in that, but I think they have restored my faith in some kind of God. They won’t let me have communion at their church ‘cause they know I don’t really ‘believe’, but I respect that - they seem OK about letting me be. I think it’s their sincerity that I like. I never felt that so much in the churches I went to before.”
Donnelly started filming for a work project.
“The library were promoting migrant resources, and asked me to make something about the community.”
She made a 40-minute documentary to share on the library’s new big screen televisions.
“I really liked the process, but wanted to do something more, and better,” she says.
Donnelly’s flying to Iraq for her newer, bigger documentary project, to get a deeper understanding of how and why Assyrians have come to be in New Zealand. Although Donnelly’s experience with film is limited, she doesn’t seem fazed.
“I’m a jack of all trades, I’m focused, and this time I have the freedom to do it exactly how I want to.”  
With the support of Zowaa, or The Assyrian Democratic Movement, which has a branch in Wellington and is currently the only Assyrian-based political party to be voting in the Iraqi Parliament, Donnelly will travel to Iraq with an Assyrian friend.
“[She] is going to show me where they began their journey, escaping from Iraq. During the 80’s borders were closed, so they walked over the mountains in Northern Iraq, across Turkey, and down into Iran to refugee camps there. If they were found they would have been put in prison, but by going that way, it was too difficult for anyone to find them. It took them about 10 days across treacherous terrain, with a Kurdish guide and only horses and donkeys,” she says.
Donnelly will spend nearly a month in Iraq and Syria.
“Sometimes information from other people about how bad the Middle East is, especially for women and the media, makes me feel terrified. Then I talk to someone that knows me well and they’re totally supportive, so I get over it.”
Donnelly hopes to finish the film in a year or two.
“At the moment I’m just collecting footage with a rough idea of the story, when I come back from Iraq I’ll have a clearer picture and begin to block it out,” she says.
She hopes to show the film in a Wellington festival.
“I think Wellington’s a respite, a home, a nesting place, for outsiders. It rocks, it really does.”