INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE FOR MAORI SHORT FILM
MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday 21 August, 10:10am
Bethune Communications
Kiwi animated short THE RANGIMOEKAUS international premiere - Sydney
The international premiere of New Zealand’s first 3D Maori animated short film THE RANGIMOEKAUS will screen in Sydney this weekend as part of the Aotearoa Maori film festival.
Director Helena Bethune says, “It’s exciting to be part of a big multi-cultural film festival that includes Maori indigenous films.”
The Rangimoekaus will screen as one of six Maori films including 2014 Cannes festival film Home and Butterfly by director Renae Maihi. The selection of Maori films is curated by Leo Koziol and the film festival is a partnership with the Sydney Maori business network.
Helena Bethune says, “There are about 25,000 Maori now living in Australia so hopefully some Mozzies come to the film festival which would be tumeke!”
The Rangimoekaus is about a hard case Maori whanau living on a marae in NZ - mischievous mokopuna are trying to help their Nan give up smoking.
The Rangimoekaus are also kaitiaki and care about the environment. The short film was produced in Wellington as part of a collaboration with Yoobee School of Design and Te Wananga O Aotearoa and includes a production crew of 30 talented Kiwi creatives.
The Aotearoa Maori film festival screens 22, 23 August in Sydney and 5, 6 September in Brisbane and will feature a Tamariki Filmmaking Workshop to introduce tamariki to the world of filmmaking and ignite their creativity to tell Maori stories.
View THE RANGIMOEKAUS promo trailer on YouTube and find out more about the film festival at www.aotearoamaorifilmfestival.com
FOLLOW TE RANGIMOEKAUS on Facebook
For all media enquiries contact Helena Bethune on 021 176 1495 or Leo Koziol on 021 143 4113
ENDS
Special Guests: Maori Film Festival in Sydney
Special guest film makers at the AOTEAROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL in Sydney will include Renae Maihi (Director BUTTERFLY) and Helena Bethune (Director of THE RANGIMOEKAUS). Oz-side Kiwis, come along once again to the AOTEAROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL, Hurstville Civic Centre, Sydney, NSW 22-23 August 2014. www.aotearoamaorifilmfestival.com
LOVE NATIVE FILM: SUPPORT NATIVE IN NUHAKA BOOSTED CAMPAIGN
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MAORI FILM LETTER
Check out the Maori Film Letter for June 2014, now available over at our sister website MANAWAIROA.COM.
http://www.manawairoa.com/maori-film-letter/maori-film-letter-june-2014
MANA WAIROA FILM AWARDS WINNERS
TE NATI FILM FESTIVAL AWARD - 2 X RETURN TICKETS TO TAHITI TO ATTEND TE NATI 2015
INC'D by Darren Simmons and Rob Mokaraka
BEST ACTOR – SHORT FILM (AOTEAROA AUDIENCE AWARD)
Rob Mokaraka in INC’D
BEST ACTRESS – SHORT FILM (AOTEAROA AUDIENCE AWARD)
Christine Edwards as Tai in AHI KA
BEST SHORT FILM (AOTEAROA AUDIENCE AWARD) - PRIZE: TROPHY & $500 SPONSORED BY THE WHAKAKI SMITH WHANAU
INC'D by Darren Simmons and Rob Mokaraka
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS ENTRY
THE HAUMANA by Keo Woolford
BEST AOTEAROA FEATURE DRAMA OR DOCUMENTARY - PRIZE: TROPHY & $500 SPONSORED BY BRAVE STAR MEDIA
KOTIRO MAORI E by Sophronia Smith
WOMEN IN FILM & TELEVISION (WIFT) MANA WAHINE AWARD
TO KAY ELLMERS
MANA WAIROA FESTIVAL PRIZE (BEST OVERALL ENTRY) PRIZE: TROPHY & $1,000 SPONSORED BY NGATI KAHUNGUNU IWI INC.
THE PA BOYS, Director Himiona Grace, Producers Mina Mathieson & Ainsley Gardiner
FESTIVAL READY TO GO!
PRESS RELEASE: WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL
READY TO GO!
27 May 2014, Nuhaka, Wairoa, New Zealand
Tenei te mihi, te karanga, te wero ki a koutou katoa!
Nau mai, haere mai ki te Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2014.
A year of curating films, travelling the world for content, and programming the best of Maori and indigenous film making culminates this week with the ninth annual Wairoa Maori Film Festival.
The Wairoa Maori Film Festival this year has 14 screenings and over 50 films, including documentaries, shorts and feature drama. Guests in attendance include international film makers from Hawaii, Tahiti, USA and Poland.
Screenings are in Kahungunu Marae, famed for featuring in scenes of John O'Shea's BROKEN BARRIER in 1955. Opening night is a special preview of THE DARKSIDE by Warwick Thornton, presented in association with the New Zealand International Film Festival. Closing night is "Bush Cinema," underground shorts at the Morere School Hall with the hot springs open until late.
Celebrating it's 9th year bringing indigenous cinema from Aotearoa and abroad, the 2014 Wairoa Māori Film Festival in conjunction with our sponsors The NZ Film Commission & WIFT promises to be a new and improved experience for past, returning & new whānau.
The Festival Team has been working tirelessly to curate a program of leading indigenous shorts, features and documentary films from home & beyond and we are pleased to announce the attendance of Hawaiian filmmaker Keo Woolford with his film THE HAUMANA. THE HAUMANA is a story of a gone-to-seed Honolulu lounge singer who rediscovers his lost culture through the magic of men's hula. Watch the trailer, below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StTv-oOfycA
Other features screening include THE DARKSIDE by Warwick Thornton (Australia), THE PA BOYS by Himiona Grace, FANTAIL by Curtis Vowell, and WHITE LIES TUAKIRI HUNA by Dana Rotberg based on the novella by Witi Ihimaera.
A collection of new Maori short films play each night of the festival. Three of these films recently screened at Cannes Short Film Corner in France - HOME by Apirana Ipo Te Maipi, AHI KAA by Richard Curtis, and RISING DUST by Jack Woon.
Documentary highlights include KOTIRO MAORI E by Sophronia Smith, the story of the historic Rongomaiwahine waiata by Uncle Tommy Taurima. On Sunday, the festival screens HE TOKI HUNA NZ IN AFGHANISTAN by award winning film makers Kay Ellmers and Annie Goldson. Kay Ellmers will be the recipient of the fourth annual WIFT Mana Wahine Award at the Gala Dinner on Saturday night.
A selection of Maori short films and THE DARKSIDE by Warwick Thornton will go on to screen at the New Zealand International Film Festival later this year. A collection of Canadian native short films is also presented in association with imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival in Toronto, the largest indigenous film festival in the world held at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The Wairoa Maori Film Festival is a film festival like no other. As well as screenings in a traditional Maori marae, guests come and soak with their hosts in the relaxing Morere Hot Springs. Guests on Saturday night ca enjoy the Gala Awards Dinner performance of the Wairoa College Kapa Haka group. All attendees can check out a refined selection of the best of Māori and indigenous cinema from the comfort of their chair - or pull up a mattress and wrap up for a day or night of movies!
Program information can be found on the new and improved festival website here. (www.kiaora.tv)
Please register your interest with guest services/audience development coordinator Renae Maihi as travel and accommodation can be arranged on a first come first serve basis.
Renae Maihi +64 21 252 9151 manaakiwairoa@gmail.com
Guest Services Manager/ Audience Development
Festival Passes and Gala Awards Dinner Tickets can also be purchased online at:
http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2014/wairoa-maori-film-festival-2014/wairoa
Festival attendees are encouraged to bring blankets and pillows with them to screenings. Meals are for sale throughout the festival $10 per person, as well as coffee/tea breaks.
Nau Mai! Nau Mai! Haere Mai! Ancient Spirits Beckon!
Kua Ara Ake Te Kopunipunitanga O Te Wairua!
WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL 2014
29th - 1st June 2014 Queens Birthday Weekend
Kahungungu Marae, Nuhaka, New Zealand.
Authorised by Te Roopu Whakaata Maori I Te Wairoa - Wairoa Maori Film Festival Society Inc.
WIFT MANA WAHINE AWARD 2014
PRESS RELEASE:
MANA WAHINE AWARD 2014 TO KAY ELLMERS
Embargoed until 4 pm May 20 2014
Representatives from Women in Film & Television (WIFT) NZ and the Wairoa Maori Film Festival Inc. are proud to announce that the 2014 WIFT Mana Wahine Award will be presented to Kay Ellmers at the Gala Festival Awards at Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka, on Saturday May 31.
The 2014 WIFT NZ Mana Wahine Award recipient is one of New Zealand's most experienced documentary makers, Kay Ellmers (Ngati Tamateraa/Ngati Raukawa)
The judging panel were impressed with the range and purpose of the award winning documentaries and programmes Kay has initiated through her production company Tumanako Productions and in collaboration with other producers. She is a prolific multi-tasker having variously taken writing, directing and producing credits on projects commissioned across all three free to air channels.
She has also served as Deputy Chair of Nga Aho Whakaari. Documentaries such asHe Toki Huna, Canvassing the Treaty and Polynesian Panthers reveal her interest and concern for exploring and illuminating issues affecting the well-being of New Zealand.Whanau, Powhiri - Welcome or Not, The Trouble with Words and Hikoi; Inside Outfurther demonstrate her "support and promotion of Maori culture, Te Reo Maori, Tikanga and the Welfare and Stories of Aotearoa Wahine."
Tickets for the Awards Gala and Film Festival can be booked at Eventfinder - Gala Awards $45 and Festival Pass $100:
http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2014/wairoa-maori-film-festival-2014/wairoa
The documentary HE TOKI HUNA NZ IN AFGHANISTAN will screen at the festival on Sunday Morning June 1 at 10.30 a.m., with both Kay Ellmers and Annie Goldson, co-directors, present:
http://www.kiaora.tv/he-toki-huna/
The Wairoa Maori Film Festival this year has 14 screenings and over 50 films, including documentaries, shorts and feature drama. Guests in attendance include international film makers from Hawaii, Tahiti, USA and Poland. Screenings are in Kahungunu Marae, famed for featuring in scenes of John O'Shea's BROKEN BARRIER in 1955. Opening night is a special preview of THE DARKSIDE by Warwick Thornton, presented in association with the New Zealand International Film Festival. Closing night is "Bush Cinema," underground shorts at the Morere School Hall with the hot springs open until late. Check out the entire programme at: www.kiaora.tv
Authorised by Te Roopu Whakaata Maori I Te Wairoa - Wairoa Maori Film Festival Society Inc.
HOME AUSTRALIA
HOME (AUSTRALIA)
Meet the creative team behind Home (Australia) screening at Cannes Short Film Corner next week, and then the week after at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2014! (click to enlarge)
Announcing the Finalists of the Te Nati Tahiti - Hawaiiki Hou Short Film Prize 2014
The Wairoa Maori Film Festival was approached by film makers in Tahiti earlier this year to help them set up the Te Nati Film Festival - six new short films by Maori film makers, six new shorts by native Tahitians. The festival has a focus on cultural exchange, and as a result we can now announce the TE NATI TAHITI - HAWAIIKI HOU SHORT FILM PRIZE.
We have worked with young emerging film makers in Tahiti French Polynesia, lead by Tiairani Drollet-Le Caill, to establish a cultural exchange in film between Maori (Native New Zealand) and Maohi (Native Tahitian) film makers.
Each year, six short films will be selected by each festival to screen at their festival partner. This year, the Wairoa Maori Film Festival worked with the Association of the Te Nati Film Festival to select six Maori short films that will screen in Te Nati in April 2014. The following six films to screen in Tahiti are:
THE RANGIMOEKAUS 5 MIN Helena Bethune
HOME (AUSTRALIA) 15 MIN Apirana Ipo Te Maipi
TOHUNGA 8 MIN Rebecca Collins
RISING DUST 15 MIN Jack Woon
AHI KAA 14 MIN Richard Curtis
INC'D 16 MIN Darren Simmonds
Our kind thanks to the directors and producers of the above six films who have agreed to their films screening in Tahiti, and with one to receive a PREMIERE PRIZE, the TE NATI TAHITI "HAWAIIKI HOU" SHORT FILM PRIZE, comprising:
- 1 x International Airfare from Auckland to Papeete to attend the TE NATI FILM FESTIVAL 2015
- Accommodation and meals for 1 person for the duration of their stay in French Polynesia
- Attendance of guest film maker to TE NATI FILM FESTIVAL 2015 at @ Le Musee de Tahiti et des Iles
Punaauia, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
The TE NATI "HAWAIIKI HOU" SHORT FILM PRIZE will be presented by Tiairani Drollet-Le Caill and Lennie Hill, Executive members of Te Nati Film Festival, at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival later this month.
WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL 2014
Ancient Spirits Beckon you to the Wairoa Maori Film Festival - a film festival experience like no other!
The festival is held in Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka, which features in the 1955 epic film Broken Barrier by John O'Shea. Guests can stay on the marae (its included in your $100 festival pass) or at the nearby Morere Hot Springs, only a five minute drive away! 50 films, 16 screenings, guests from Poland, Hawaii, USA, Tahiti and Australia. Join Us!
The Wairoa Maori Film Festival is the premiere Maori and indigenous film festival of Aotearoa. This year our programme is better than ever. We've worked alongside the New Zealand International Film Festival to present a special preview of The Darkside by Warwick Thornton, as well as three programmes of brand new Maori short films.
We have guests from Hawaii to present Kumu Hina and The Haumana, special screenings of NZ features The Pa Boys, Fantail and White Lies, and presentation of the WIFT Mana Wahine Award at our Awards Gala Dinner on Saturday night.
The New Zealand Film Commission continues its auspicious sponsorship of the Wairoa Maori Film Festival, and our programming partners now include imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival (Toronto), Tropfest New Zealand, Te Nati Film Festival Tahiti and the South Seas Film & Television School.
This year looks better than ever. Three of the new Maori short films will have just screened at Cannes Short Film Corner. If you're an up and coming film maker, interested in making your own film, or simply a mad film fan, then Kahungunu Marae Nuhaka (and the nearby Morere Hot Pools!) is the place to be this Queen's Birthday Weekend!