Fun in Māori Shorts
Kiriata Screening
Fun in Māori Shorts
Saturday 3 February
1 pm Fun in Māori Shorts, Len Lye Centre Cinema, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Buy Tickets
The KIRIATA MĀORI Showcase is a partnership between the Wairoa Māori Film Festival and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in Ngāmotu New Plymouth. Māori, Pasifika and Indigenous moving image art works will be screened over Waitangi weekend 2024 during the Te Hau Whakatonu exhibition.
Curator’s Statement: Yes, Fun in Māori Shorts is a funny pun (spot the stubbies!) collecting together the fun, funny and adventurous Māori short films of recent times. Fun can be rangatahi comedy like Te Waiarangi Ratana’s Manu Masters (dive bombs into the deep end will never be the same!), it can be gently poking a stick at the legacy of dawn raids in the at-times-startling The Voyager’s Legacy by Bailey Poching. Of course there can be tears through joy, like Rafer Raujtoki’s The Bryclreem Boys, and sometimes we just want to go along for the ride like in Isaac Bell’s back to the future-esque The Machine. Enjoy the ride, whānau, all this and more in our first ever Fun in Māori Shorts! - Leo Koziol (Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu)
Screen artists:
Te Waiarangi Ratana (Tūhoe)
Bailey Poching (Māori, Samoan)
Rafer Raujtoki (Ngāti Whakahema, Ngāti Pikiao)
Isaac Bell (Ngāpuhi)
Te Waiarangi Ratana (Tūhoe), Manu Masters, 2022
Fun in Māori Shorts
PROGRAMME
Manu Masters
Te Waiarangi Ratana 18 min, 2022
A story of Summer, fear and courage in Aotearoa. MANU MASTERS is a coming-of-age comedy inspired by films like the Last Dragon and the original Karate Kid. Manu Masters must learn how to bomb from Matua Pai to save both his reputation and his self-esteem. The film is fun and colourful with an exaggerated set of characters. It tackles themes of identity, purpose and great expectations.
This film was made as part of the Ngā Pakiaka Incubator Programme - Eight short films by a new generation of filmmakers. Devised during the 1st COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, He Waiora traverses a range of topics close to the hearts of rangatahi and their whānau in Aotearoa today.
The Voyager’s Legacy
Bailey Poching, 10 min, 2022
Set during the time of the Dawn Raids, The Voyagers Legacy follows the three youngest children of a Samoan family, as they reimagine their bustling Ponsonby home as a magical, whimsical fairytale world of swords and sorcery.
The Dawn Raids of 1974-76 were a time when the New Zealand Police were instructed by the government to enter homes and/or stop people on the street and ask for permits, visas, passports – anything that proved a person’s right to be in the country. This blunt instrument was applied almost exclusively to Pacific Islanders, despite the bulk of overstayers at the time being from Europe or North America. Dr Melani Anae describes these raids as ‘the most blatantly racist attack on Pacific peoples by the New Zealand government in New Zealand’s history’.
This film was made as part of the Ngā Pakiaka Incubator Programme.
The Brylcreem Boys
Rafer Raujtoki, 2022, 14 min
Kara is tasked with discovering why her Uncle’s first love abandoned him on the opening night of his band’s national tour.
The Machine
Isaac Bell, 2022, 26 min
"In a quiet corner of rural New Zealand, a teenage boy holds the key to the greatest discovery of our time. The world is tough for our young genius who’s largely misunderstood by the people around him. But for him to unlock the last piece of the puzzle, he needs the help of his idol, a famed industrialist on the other side of the world. What he doesn’t realise is that by building The Machine, he’s started a chain of events that could, if it works, change the course of history."
Bailey Poching (Māori, Samoan), The Voyager’s Legacy, 2022
Rafer Raujtoki (Ngāti Whakahema, Ngāti Pikiao), The Brylcreem Boys, 2022
Isaac Bell (Ngāpuhi), The Machine, 2022