When Jacinda Ardern announced her departure, cinematographer Christos Montez was on set, so he learned the news an hour later. The first thing he thought was that her move was completely expected. “How long can a man last?” he tells K about the pressure not only from the job, but the threats he’s been receiving lately. The next immediate thought that inevitably occurred to him was that he had missed the opportunity to be present at yet another station on the political route. Maybe the last one. From 2017, when Ardern was announced as leader of the Labor Party, until today, Montez has followed her through some of her most important moments and told K the untold stories that unfolded behind the scenes.

Montes grew up in Greece and immigrated to his mother’s native New Zealand in 2010. At first, he founded a company with his brother to import Greek goods, but quickly (in 2014) decided to return to his old profession and began working as an operator in one of the main channels of the country. He was there pulling Ardern when she was elected leader of the Labor Party. Maybe the 37-year-old politician at that time had already been in parliament for nine years (and she was no longer mistaken for … the secretary of parliamentarians), but she was still considered completely different. Mostly very young, without a wife or children. But that wasn’t what caught Montez’s attention in those days. “I was impressed with the way he spoke. Although he was a new politician, he seemed to really own the issues he was talking about,” he explains today.

In elections two months later, despite her party coming second, she managed to form an alliance with a third party and become the country’s youngest prime minister. “Now everyone there had jasindamania,” recalls Montes. They wanted to know everything about her. About her family (she grew up in a small town as a Mormon and her father was a police officer). On how she got into politics (she volunteered for the Labor Party at the age of 17). About her partner and how they met (the host of the fishing show, he approached her at the office with a question of interest to him).

In the years that followed, Montez met her again several times in the context of interviews he gave. She was always kind to him and his associates, smiling, relaxed, never asked journalists to see questions in advance. She recalls that once she came to their studio for an interview, and he, having already set up the lights and cameras, looked out the window. From there, she suddenly saw her car pull up. She, her assistant and another person got out of it. And then he saw the prime minister enter a nearby cafe alone, while the others were waiting outside, talking. A few minutes later she came out with coffee for her colleagues and tea for herself. “To me, who grew up in Greece and watched our politicians, all this seemed impressive. More precisely… space,” he says with a laugh.

In March 2019, Montes traveled to Christchurch on behalf of the BBC. Images of Ardern with a black headscarf as a sign of respect for the dead Muslims then went around the world. “We were all devastated but proud of how he handled it. She took it upon herself. We were told that only she would speak from the side of the government. With incredible humanity, he managed the impossible: not to isolate the Muslim element, as was done in other countries where similar attacks took place. The images depicting her with the relatives of the victims, hugging them, holding their hands, talking to them, were spontaneous and real. “He had exactly the same behavior when the camera was off. It is absolutely authentic,” he says. The following October, in the midst of the pandemic, the party—and it—won the election. This was the first time in New Zealand that the party had succeeded in forming a self-governing government. She herself took tough measures – for some they were draconian – and although “her group of 5 million citizens” lived in isolation from the outside world, with the advent of vaccines (and soon after the economic consequences of the pandemic), polarization began. created and subjected to harsh criticism.

“In the last year, the situation got out of control, and criticism of her turned into a fierce hatred unprecedented in the country,” he explains. It wasn’t just on social media. At least twice her car was the object of a wild chase. There were demonstrations against her, resulting in violent clashes with the police. Ardern was forced to tighten security measures for herself and her family. She may claim that these threats are not a factor in her resignation, adding that she had no other energy to manage, but Montes is not convinced. “It makes sense that she feels exhausted precisely because of these threats. But he would never admit it, so as not to give them power.” He will always remember her fondly. A strong, powerful woman who some could not accept for who she is. “For me, she left a positive mark, and I hope that her resignation will be a wake-up call for some self-criticism about the toxic attitude of many towards her,” he concludes.