'Doctors said i was dying... LOOK AT ME NOW!'

After beating the odds, this Kiwi filmmaker is taking on the world

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Auckland filmmaker Alex Farley was 15 when doctors said she might die from an incurable autoimmune condition. Weighing no more than 35kg and struggling to get out of bed, she was no longer the loud, impassioned theatre kid her family knew.

Yet nine years on, the director, producer and writer is thriving. Not only has Alex beaten the odds thanks to life-changing infusion drugs and fierce determination, but she's also about to premiere her debut short film Wild Nights, Wild Nights!.

Following its screening at the New Zealand International Film Festival in August and its selection as part of the Show Me Shorts Film Festival, which takes place this month, Alex is flying to Taiwan to open the Kuan Du Film Festival.

“I've been performing, acting and singing for a long time,” says Alex, 24, who has a Masters in screen production. “Then I got into writing my own things. I've always loved telling my own stories and I like to be in charge!”

Aged just nine, she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, a serious inflammatory bowel condition that affects the lining of the digestive tract. It left her exhausted and sometimes missing weeks of school. She also couldn't perform on stage because she lacked the energy to stand.