Chelsie is Home by ChristmasView GalleryHide Gallery

Chelsie Preston Crayford graduated from Toi in 2008 and features as her grandmother in the Kiwi movie, Home by Christmas. It is a love story written, produced and directed by Gaylene Preston (Chelsie’s mum) based on the wartime marriage of her parents, Ed and Tui. With a loving and compassionate eye, her lifelong curiosity and special imagination, she reveals the two sides of a traumatic separation brought about by World War II.

Since graduating Chelsie has been awarded ‘Best Performance in a Short Film’ at the 2007 New Zealand Screen Awards for her role in Peter Salmon’s Fog, winner of the audience vote at Cannes Film Festival Critics Week. 

Her feature film work includes Taika Waititi’s Eagle Vs Shark, (Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival) and Anthony McCarten’s Show of Hands, for which she attracted special mentions in numerous reviews. 

Her theatre work includes leads in The Sally Rodwell Monologues and the Silo Theatre productions of Ruben Guthrie and That Face both directed by Shane Bosher. 

For more info on the film check out the official website www.homebychristmas.com