WIFT MANA WAHINE AWARD 2015
Photographer: Kane Skennar
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL INC and WOMEN IN FILM & TELEVISION (WIFT) NZ, 11 MAY 2015
Women in Film & Television (WIFT) NZ and the Wairoa Māori Film Festival Inc. are proud to announce the 2015 WIFT NZ Mana Wahine Award recipient is one of New Zealand's most exciting newer producers, Chelsea Winstanley (Ngati Ranginui).
The award will be presented at the Gala Festival Awards at the iconic Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa, on Saturday May 30.
The 2009 recipient of the Woman to Watch Award at the WIFT Film and Television Awards, Chelsea has produced and directed feature films, television, documentaries and short films since, receiving many international awards and accolades along the way.
With Taika Waititi and Emanuel Michael, Chelsea produced the multi award-winning mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, which has played at prestigious international film festivals, notably Toronto (winner of the People’s Choice award) Sundance and Berlin. The film currently holds the number one slot on the comedy and horror charts on US iTunes after a limited, highly successful self-funded cinema release in the US. Together with Taika Waititi, Chelsea was responsible for distributing the film both within New Zealand and internationally, with remarkable innovation and results.
The judging panel selected Chelsea for the quality and success of her body of work so far and for her professionalism, integrity and willingness to take risks. As a young Māori woman and mother of two, she is leading the way for other up-and-coming Māori women screen practitioners, with her example of a fearless approach to the international market for Māori storytelling.
She has been an executive board member of Nga Aho Whakaari (Māori in Screen) and a governance board member of WIFT Auckland.
Tickets for the Awards Gala and Film Festival can be booked at Eventfinder - Gala Awards $80. Full and Festival Pass including Gala $225.
http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2015/wairoa-maori-film-festival/Wairoa
The Wairoa Māori Film Festival this year has 28 screenings with 62 shorts, six documentaries and five features. Screenings are held in Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka, famed for featuring in scenes from John O’Shea’s BROKEN BARRIER in 1955. For the first time since 2009, the festival will also be at the reopened Gaiety Theatre in Wairoa. Guests in attendance include international film makers from Tahiti and Australia. For the first time, the festival is hosting the premiere of a feature film, UMBRELLA MAN, by Lennie Hill, screening on opening night and at the Gaiety Theatre in Wairoa. A selection of the Māori and Pasifika short films screening at the festival will go on to comprise the New Zealand International Film Festival Ngā Whanaunga programme which will premiere in Auckland later this year. The Māori Film Awards Gaiety Grand Gala will include presentation of a number of awards, including the WIFT Mana Wahine Award, and a special “Native Now!” multimedia showcase with works by Charlotte Graham, Marta Szymanska, Rosanna Raymond, Mika and Lisa Reihana. Special presentations include a 4th cinema academic panel, a “Māori new wave” micro budget film making panel, a special screening of CONFESSIONS OF PRISONER T with director Michael Bennett and private investigator Tim McKinnell, and the first NZ screening of Jason Momoa’s ROAD TO PALOMA. Closing night is “Bush Cinema” underground shorts at Morere hot springs, with the pools open late into the night. The Wairoa Māori Film Festival is sponsored by the New Zealand Film Commission, Te Matarae O Te Wairoa Trust and Wairoa District Council. The entire programme can be viewed online at: www.kiaora.tv
Here's the Line Up for Wairoa 2015...
Announcing the Official Programme of the
Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2015
Friday May 29 to Monday June 1, 2015 * Matariki
Queen's Birthday Weekend
Film Hui: Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka, Wairoa, Aotearoa
Grand Gala and Maori Film Day: Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa, Aotearoa
Closing Night: Morere Hot Springs, Wairoa, Aotearoa
FRIDAY MAY 29TH: KAHUNGUNU MARAE, NUHAKA
3 pm Official Festival Powhiri
4 pm Registration
5 pm Wahine Shorts
5.30 pm Welcome Hakari Dinner
6 pm Maori Shorts I
8 pm Umbrella Man - Lennie Hill
SATURDAY MAY 30TH: KAHUNGUNU MARAE, NUHAKA
9.15 am World Shorts I
10.30 am Genome
11 am Maori Shorts II
12 pm Lunch with Virtual Reality Demo
12.30 pm 4th Cinema Academic Panel: Dr. Ella Henry, Dr. Davinia Thornley, Deborah Walker Morrison
1.30 pm The Maori New Wave Panel
3 pm The Dead Lands (R) Toa Fraser
3 pm Hawaiian Shorts (G)
SATURDAY MAY 30TH: GAIETY THEATRE, WAIROA
6 pm Ribbon Cutting with Mayor of Wairoa
6.30 pm Red Carpet Reception
7 pm Maori Film Awards Gaiety Grand Gala!
Keynote: Gaylene Preston ONZM, Native Now! Media Art Showcase, Live Music, Kapa Haka
SUNDAY MAY 31ST: KAHUNGUNU MARAE, NUHAKA
9 am Black Panther Woman - Rachel Perkins
9 am World Shorts II
10 am Another Trip to the Moon - Ismael Basbeth
10 am My Legacy
11 am Circle of Life
11.30 am Confessions of Prisoner T - Michael Bennett
12.30 pm Lunch
1 pm Road to Paloma (R) Jason Momoa
1 pm Te Kati - Goethe Mystery (G)
2 pm Tatau
3 pm The Dark Horse
5 pm Closing Dinner
SUNDAY MAY 31ST: GAIETY THEATRE, WAIROA
10 am to 2.30 pm Wairoa Maori Short Film Day FREE
A collection of Family-Friendly NZ short films to celebrate the reopening of the Gaiety Theatre
3 pm Umbrella Man - Lennie Hill
SUNDAY MAY 31ST: MORERE CLOSING NIGHT FREE
7 pm Bush Cinema - Underground Shorts
9 pm DJ Set - Daughters of Hathor with Media Art Projections
MONDAY JUNE 1: KAHUNGUNU MARAE, NUHAKA
9 am Poroporoaki and Formal Closing of Festival
The End
Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2008
A powerful image from Tearepa Kahi's TAUA formed the poster for our 2008 festival.
2011 WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL
In 2011, we reflected on the development of the Maori film industry, looking at some of the landmark works in Maori film making. The article was published in MANA, and is below.
You can also DOWNLOAD THE FULL 2011 FILM PROGRAMME HERE IN PDF.
MANA MAGAZINE THIS MONTH asked me to reflect on the development of the Maori film industry, and in particular pick my five favourite Maori films of all time. My first two thoughts
were to think of the breadth and depth of Maori talent out there, and how difficult it would be to whittle my list down to five. I sat down with my thoughts, and came to arrive at five dramatic features, one short film and a documentary. I listed what are arguably the seven most groundbreaking Maori films, one for each star of Matariki.
With the outstanding exception of Ramai Hayward and her creative marriage to Rudall Hayward, it wasn’t until the early 1980s that Maori began to tell their own stories onscreen. NGATI (1987) was the first feature film directed and written by Maori, with a primarily Maori cast. Barry Barclay’s direction paired with Tama Poata’s script presented the archetypal East Coast story, with an ensemble cast lead by Wi Kuki Kaa. Each went on to sustain careers in film, Barry going on to direct three more features and a number of documentary works, Wi Kuki in further features and shorts, his last starring role in River Queen.
The second feature film directed and written by Maori was ONCE WERE WARRIORS (1994). It was a stunner. It broke box office records, and made stars of Rena Owen, Cliff Curtis and Temuera Morrison. On the strength of their performances, this trio of actors were able to seek out and get work in Hollywood, often in ethnic character roles and, curiously, science fiction epics. Director Lee Tamahori has since had ups and downs in Hollywood, but his current upswing is the story of the son of Saddam Hussein, “The Devil’s Double” which premiered at Sundance this year.
The impact of ONCE WERE WARRIORS were cultural and were broad. Lee Tamahori’s adaptation of the Alan Duff novel held nothing back and put a warts and all mirror up to Maori society and the kiwi underclass. The film dealt with issues of gangs, crime, disaffection, rape, sexism, incest and family violence and it sent a powerful message that embracing our traditional Maori culture, living within a tikanga-based whanau-connected framework, is a genuine and real way to escape from this vicious circle.
The cultural impact of Don Selwyn’s MAORI MERCHANT OF VENICE (2002) were similarly significant for our culture, but in a much gentler way. This two and a half hour Shakespeare adaptation silenced doubters and drew fluent Reo speaking audiences to cinemas across the country, the first feature fully scripted and presented in Te Reo Maori. Two years later, Maori Television was launched, and suddenly we had gone from two hours of “ghetto” Sunday morning Reo programming on TVNZ to a whole bilingual channel presenting news, documentaries, talk shows, game shows, sports and karaoke competitions in primetime.
WHALE RIDER (2002) was released not long after Maori Merchant of Venice. Some in the Maori film-making community argue that this is not a Maori film, having been directed by a Pakeha. I tend to agree, but only in one respect. WHALE RIDER is first and foremost a Woman’s film, and then secondly a Maori film. Niki Caro’s adaptation of Witi Ihimaera’s children’s book is an uncompromising magical realism feminist fable that sings the song of Tangaroa. It’s worth noting that Niki Caro’s next film was NORTH COUNTRY, a powerful story where Charlize Theron’s character – in the great spirit of Paikea – refused to accept sexual harassment and inequity as a woman.
WHALE RIDER made an Oscar-nominated star and celebrity of Keisha Castle Hughes, following in the teen acting footsteps of Anna Paquin in Jane Campion’s THE PIANO. Keisha has gone on to a number of acting roles in Israel, Australia, and France, including one playing the Virgin Mary, though surprisingly none in a Maori role to date.
Also making an appearance at the Oscars – though asleep at the time – was Taika Waititi. His Oscar-nominated short TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT (2004) finally came to full cinematic fruition with the release of BOY (2010) last year. We played the two films one after the other at a packed Taihoa Marae; and you could see once again that, like a modern-day Maui, Taika had the storytelling gift from day one. BOY’s box office smashing success was a surprise, his continuing ability to capture audiences heart and soul was not. Taika is starring with Ryan Reynolds and Temuera Morrison this June in GREEN LANTERN, and has also just had his television pilot picked up by MTV USA.
The documentary is DAY 507 (1978). We still reel from Merata Mita’s sudden passing a year ago, but the film works that she has left behind are taonga that tell the story of a nation and a generation. Merata bore witness to the eviction of Ngati Whatua from their ancestral land on May 25, 1978, and she chose to record this on film with the support of the people of the land. Riveting, groundbreaking, heartbreaking.
Merata had just returned to Aotearoa to work and produce and mentor many emerging young Maori film makers. And it is there that the legacy must continue. Barry Barclay, Tama Poata, Wi Kuki Kaa, Don Selwyn and Merata Mita, our forebears of Maori film, film-making and storytelling have passed to the spirit world, but the vision persists.
Today, looking at the WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL programme for 2011, we have the talent, we have the commitment and we have the stories to keep putting ourselves uncompromisingly onscreen. Actors like Temuera Morrison in TRACKER, Pete Smith in HUGH AND HEKE, Rangimoana Taylor in HOOK LINE & SINKER. Director Michael Bennett with his first feature film MATARIKI. New short film directors like Rachel House, Nathaniel Hinde, Tammy Davis and Kararaina Rangihau.
The kaupapa laid down for the WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL was to celebrate and support Maori film and film making talent, leading the way as indigenous film makers, and striving to achieve as global film makers. We celebrate the achievements of this year’s Maori film and acting community, and look forward to more films in future – a second feature completely in Te Reo, a 3D science fiction fantasy film with Taniwha and Turehu, and another blockbuster from Taika Waititi. GIRL?
- Leo Koziol, Festival Director Wairoa Maori Film Festival
Our Second Year Programme
in 2006, we profiled NGATI with special guest Barry Barclay present, along with Keri Kaa. We remembered Tama Poata and Wi Kuki Kaa who had passed the previous year.
Take A Trip Down Memory Lane
Here on PDF is the original festival programme for the Wairoa Maori Film Festival way back in 2005... CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD IN PDF FILE
Kath Akuhata Brown on 4th Cinema
Past and Presence: Towards a Maori Aesthetics of Cinema
by Kath Akuhata-Brown
Haere e nga wairua, haere atu koutou I te huanui, I te ara kua papatauria e te tapuwae kauika tangata. Takoto mai koutou I te urunga e kore e nekehia, I te moenga e kore e hikitia. Kua ngaro nga whaikorero, nga kaihautu, kua whakangaro atu I te ara e kore e titiro whakamuri mai ano. Hoki atu ki a tatou tipuna, haere atu ra.
E nga mana, e nga reo, rau Rangatira ma, tena koutou. E nga Tangatawhenua o te ao, he mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa.
Tribute must first be made to those of our loved ones who have departed from the path followed by the living and sleep on the pillow that moves not and the bed that cannot be carried away.
Farewell to our great orators, whom have taken the pathway from which no backward glances are possible. Return to the warmth of our company of elders.
To the living I bid you greetings; your dignity is made manifest through the voice and the word. To those first of the land, it is with love and humility that I bring the respects of my elders to you.
The dignity of my elders and teachers has been upheld, the farewells have been made and respect for those upon whose land we enter has been made also. The wairuaremains intact.
* * * * * *
While Maori cinema has become an established presence in the international film world, I wish to discuss an aspect of it that is rarely referred to: specifically,wairua (spiritual presence), and the way it informs the shape of our cinema. Spirituality is something of an uncomfortable topic in mainstream film literature, which is fundamentally grounded in (so-called) rationality and shuns the mystical. But for many Maori filmmakers and artists, wairua is a generative force, a strength that can be harnessed and focused into practical tools for artistic creation. These tools exist within our psychic and emotional framework, and it is our task to identify them, organize them, and use them to create a cinema that is expressive of and responsive to our own voice—and in so doing to actually recreate that voice through the medium of cinema, a voice that has been imperilled by two centuries of conquest and colonization.
Our desire to reclaim our Maori-ness derives from a yearning to take back ownership of a culture that was once on the brink of extinction. After an 1859 census determined that the Maori population numbered only 56,000, the New Zealand government adopted a policy designed to "smooth the pillow of a dying race"—essentially encouraging Pakeha (white) New Zealanders to help the Maori "die with dignity" by quashing their culture and assimilating them into Pakehasociety. The language of our Maori elders has been irremediably transformed through decades of disuse brought on by this insidious process of legislative colonization, and that unwilled metamorphosis has profoundly altered our conception of our world. It is through our language that we are able to identify ourselves and our sense of where we belong: we have identified our mountains, rivers and sacred places; we know their names and from whence those names came.
However, words are only one way of communicating. There is also the language of the spirit, which is indefinable, intangible and, inexplicably, directly within our reach. It is a language that is bound to inherited memory and speaks in visual symbols that contain an emotional truth. It cannot be compromised, because it is also a language that is repulsed by deceit; when it is spoken to us we are struck by its beauty, and in the recesses of our heart we sense its truth.
A few years ago, a Pakeha friend of mine said that the tangi—the three-day funeral ceremony—was the cliché of Maori storytelling. Although I was offended at first, her comment led me to recognize just how intrinsic this motif is in Maori television and cinema, and to divine the reason why: the tangi is one of the last manifestations of traditional Maori culture in daily life. We are encouraged to grieve, and when the time comes for the final farewell, it is done with great ceremony, and great emotion. The overarching philosophy for the tangi is kua heke te hupe: let the snot flow freely. For three days the tears and snot run, the orations of our elders give us comfort, and everyone is welcomed by the soaringkaranga (call) of the elder women, whose voices tear down the veil between life and death and call forth the past to witness the present. The tangi is where great drama unfolds, and where all the contrasts of Maori life are displayed: the speech-making can scale the heights of poetry, and within moments descend into barefaced insults; heart-rending emotion can suddenly give way to side-splitting comedy.
Grief informs us as a people, and no matter how far we are from home, by virtue of our whakapapa (genealogy) we can draw upon our ancestors' presence to give us comfort. It is this intergenerational connectedness—combined with a dedication to tino rangatiratanga (self- determination) and a fierce political consciousness—that has informed Maori art in the modern era. In the 1930s, the great Maori leaders Princess Te Puea Herangi and Sir Apirana Ngata identified that art and culture was the key to raising the spirits and the consciousness of our people. Our stories and our heritage are contained in our traditional craftsmanship, and it was by keeping these skills and knowledge alive that our people would endure. To walk into a marae (the communal house used for ceremonial gatherings) is to enter the Maori universe: the woven tukutuku panels map out the pattern of the cosmos, and the carved figures of our legendary forebears speak to our relationship with the eternal. The shape of the house is that of the body of a human: it tells us that we are one with our environment.
This visualization of Maori thought and philosophy has now made its way to the cinema screen; we have had to learn how to speak this new language, and apply our abilities to weave and carve with fibre and wood to the materials of light and sound. In a lecture he delivered at Auckland University in 2003, Barry Barclay—director of such films as Ngati, Neglected Miracle and Feathers of Peace—coined the term "fourth cinema" to describe Indigenous film practice (first cinema being American/Hollywood, second being art films, third the "cinema of the so-called Third World"). He declared that [f]or such a radically new type of cinema to blossom, there would have to be some alternative base firmly set in the customs and laws of the community that conceived and manufactured the film. Such a base is not only possible but usual within Indigenous frameworks. In the Maori world, for example, commentators have identified core values which govern life, values such aswhakawhanaungatanga (relationships) mana (dignity) manaakitanga (hospitality)aroha (love), tapu (sacred), mana tupuna (prestige of ancestors) and wairua(spiritual presence). Imagine that the makers of fourth cinema come to accent [these values] in their productions. Indeed, there are glimpses of that already having happened—in the way, for example, that Maori filmmakers have been insistent on occasion that their films be accompanied to a new venue and be presented to the people of that area with full ceremony.
My very strong hunch, and it is an informed hunch, is that if we as Maori look closely enough and through the right pair of spectacles, we will find examples at every turn of how the old principles have been reworked to give vitality and richness to the way we conceive, develop, manufacture and present our films. It seems likely that some Indigenous film artists will be interested in shaping films that sit with confidence within the first-, second- and third-cinema framework. While not closing the door on that option, others may seek to rework the ancient core values to shape a growing Indigenous cinema outside the national orthodoxy.
If I were to look to our Maori protocols to find the tools for creating art in a contemporary context, I would turn to the works of Maori academic Professor Mason Durie, who developed the Whare Tapawha (Four Pillars) model, which deals with Maori health care and well-being. I have loosely adopted this model, and its four key values, in order to articulate a framework for discussion about the particular qualities of Indigenous storytelling and their application to cinema.
Te taha hinengaro focuses on the emotions. It is understood that the mind and body are inseparable, and that communication through emotions is important and more meaningful than the exchange of words.
Te taha wairua refers to spiritual awareness. It is believed that without this, an individual can be lacking in well-being and therefore more prone to ill health.Wairua explores relationships with the environment, people and heritage. Spiritual awareness is crucial for making effective decisions.
Te taha tinana refers to the physical being, which for our purposes it can be associated with technical aspects of art-making.
Te taha whānau is the most fundamental unit of Maori society. Whānau are clusters of individuals descended from a fairly recent ancestor. Whānau may include up to three or four generations, and its importance will vary from one individual to the next. The beliefs, expectations or opinions of the whānau can have a major impact on the career choices that an individual makes. It is from this pillar that intergenerational connectedness flows.
Together these four pillars keep the house in which our stories are stored strong and secure. They allow us to venture out into the world to collect different experiences and then return to our house, secure in the knowledge that the pillars are strong enough to sustain us. For the Maori, the cinema is a gateway back to this undying world; in the words of the great Maori director Merata Mita, "the audience sees. . . resurrections taking place; a past life lives again, wisdom is shared, and something from the heart and spirit responds to that short but inspiring on-screen journey from darkness to light." It begins as it ends, with our ancestors—time becomes non-linear, the spirit of our lands and peoples travels unrestrained, passing the mind and stepping with grace directly into the heart.
Na reira,e nga manutioriori, nga kai korero me nga tohunga katoa tena koutou, tena koutou tena koutou katoa, ka huri.
Kath Akuhata-Brown is of Ngati Porou descent. A graduate of the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam and a filmmaker for over two decades, she is also a Development Executive at the New Zealand Film Commission and is a member of Te Paepae Ataata, the Maori Feature Film Development Fund.
FIRST RELEASE OF NZ FILMS FOR WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL 2015
PRESS RELEASE: FEATURE, DOCUMENTARY & SHORTS 2015
(Sunday 12 April 2015)
WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL has announced a selection of its feature, documentary and New Zealand short film programme screening at our festival this year (May 29 to June 1 2015, Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka).
NZ FEATURE: UMBRELLA MAN
2015 New Zealand 118 minutes, Directors Lennie Hill (Māori) and Darren Simmonds (Pākehā)
An elderly homeless man befriends a runaway teen in order to rescue him from a life on the streets; and in the process, they become each others salvation.
NZ DOCUMENTARY: GENOME
2015 New Zealand 25 minutes Rachel Anson (Pākehā)
By observing genetics in our own families, we can make predictions about our future; from diabetes to dementia, where our ancestors came from to what our future children might look like. But what if you were the only branch on your genetic family tree?
At eleven days old Sarah (Māori) was adopted and for the last 28 years she has never known anything about her biological parents, her medical history or ancestry. Sarah has decided to investigate her own DNA by using a direct-to-consumer genetic testing kit. What will her results reveal about her past? Are there genetic concerns for her future? Can new technology help answer the age old question ‘Who am I?’
NZ SHORT: TITS ON A BULL
2015 New Zealand 15 minutes Director Tim Worrall (Māori)
Set in a Maori women's rugby team, Tits on a Bull follows Phoenix Tawhana, the young star of the team, as she struggles to choose between her longtime friendship with aging coach Rusty or her new relationship with lesbian team-captain, Melanie.
Tampere Film Festival 2015.
NZ SHORT: OW, WHAT?
2015 New Zealand 15 minutes Director Mike Jonathon (Māori)
A young boy from Ruatoki recognizes two unusual guardians, as he is conflicted between becoming the man of the house and playing rugby with his mates.
NZ SHORT: ELEVATION
15 New Zealand 12 minutes Director Tihini Grant (Māori)
Dark Comedy. Trapped in an elevator, a white supremacist and a Maori gang member have the chance to confront their issues and come out better men... or not.
NZ SHORT: TAMA
2014 New Zealand 10 min Director Ryan Alexander Lloyd (Māori)
With a beautiful treatment of archival footage, Lloyd recreates an emotional, honest and unconventional portrait of a father and his middle-aged son exploring memories, feelings of loss and the presence of hope. Award-winning filmmaker Ryan Alexander Lloyd is primarily a director of photography whose work has been seen at festivals, including Vienna, Melbourne and NZ.
Award-winning filmmaker Ryan Alexander Lloyd (Ngai Tahu, Maori) is primarily a director of photography whose work has been seen at festivals, including Vienna, Melbourne and New Zealand. He has won a number of Australia Cinematography Society (ACS) awards for his work in Dramatic Short Films and was selected to participate in the Berlinale Talent Campus 2013.
Tama screened at imagineNATIVE Toronto, Canada, in 2014.
KKIFF 2015
KOTA KINABALU INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2015
In 2015, the Wairoa Maori Film Festival is partnering with the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival in Borneo, Malaysia. As part of this partnership, we will be presenting the Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts programme from the New Zealand International Film Festival of 2014. This programme was first presented at the New Zealand International Film Festival, with the short films co-curated by Leo Koziol (Wairoa Maori Film Festival) and Craig Fasi (Pollywood Film Festival).
Click here for the detailed programme screening at the event this June.
Click here to go to the official KKIFF Film Festival website.