Supernormal + McCann NZ extend The Forbidden Pharmacy with film built on real patient stories
Supernormal has partnered with McCann New Zealand and dotdotdash to extend The Forbidden Pharmacy – a public awareness campaign launched last month confronting one of the country’s most urgent and least visible issues: the thousands of New Zealanders who cannot access life-changing medicines that are routinely funded elsewhere in the world.
Backed by a coalition of 17 patient organisations, the campaign began with an immersive installation at Auckland’s Shed 10, where hundreds of medicines were displayed behind locked doors — each representing a real illness, a real patient community and a real story. A new 90-second hero film, directed by Supernormal’s Reagen Butler, carries that message forward, built around interviews with real patients that were filmed, edited and then built into the installation itself.
The film’s defining decision was made early: rather than relying on voice-over, Butler and designer Joseph Leary chose to let the patients’ own voices carry the film. The interviews were filmed, cut together, and then built into the installation itself — the screens becoming part of the space visitors moved through. Butler conducted two days of intense one-on-one interviews — serving as his own director of photography — working without a question list and instead simply speaking with each patient about their experience.
Says Reagen Butler, director: “Making this type of work is, to me right now at this point in my career, the thing I care the most about. I knew it would have a level of intensity and weight to it, but I don’t think any of us really understood how giving all of our participants would be. All of them are in really tricky situations they have very little ability to do anything about, but they had such a resolution and a power to them that inspired me to bring a certain level of care to the work.
“That restraint was deliberate throughout. The handheld camera, the sense of looking in rather than intruding, and an original score featuring violinist Joni Fuller all serve the humanity of the stories rather than overshadow them. As Butler puts it: “Too much craft would have taken away the humanity of the work.”
The film continues a strong run for Butler, who also directed The Māori Roll Call for Motion Sickness — recently awarded six Golds at the AWARD Awards and two Gold Lions at Cannes.
Says Haydn Kerr, ECD, dotdotdash: “What makes me happy about Reagen becoming an important voice in this industry is how he’s doing it – leading with empathy and craft. That’s the direction our industry should be heading. Credit where it’s due too: Supernormal didn’t just shoot a film here, they built an entire event around it.”
Says Matt McKenzie, Executive Producer, Supernormal: “This is among the most important work we’ve been part of. The credit belongs to Reagen, the team, and above all the patients who shared their stories.”
The campaign continues with a social content series and an open letter to the leaders of New Zealand’s political parties, urging them to make timely access to medicines a priority ahead of the election. New Zealanders can share their stories and add their names at forbiddenpharmacy.org.
McCann New Zealand
dotdotdash
FleishmanHillard Aotearoa
Supernormal
Director: Reagen Butler
Original score featuring violinist Joni Fuller
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