Tearepa Kahi
Director Tearepa Kahi’s follow-up to the infectious Poi E is a rousing celebration of Pacific reggae legends Herbs, the band’s members and its action as an inspiring musical front for social rights and harmony.
A documentary portrait of the pioneering indigenous filmmaker and activist Merata Mita, Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen is an intimate tribute from a son about his mother that delves into the life of the first woman from an Indigenous Nation to solely direct a film anywhere in the world. Known as the grandmother of Indigenous cinema, Merata’s independent political documentaries of the ‘70s and ‘80s highlighted injustices for Māori people, and often divided the country. Mita was fearless in her life, her activism and her art. Chronicling the director’s journey to decolonize the film and television screens of New Zealand and the world, the film documents her work, her early struggles with her family and her drive for social justice that often proved personally dangerous.
Written and directed by Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion) and starring Maaka Pohatu (The Modern Maori Quartet, Two Little Boys) the film tells the story of musician Dalvanius Prime and the origin of the song “Poi E”, a ground-breaking fusion of 1980s pop and traditional Māori music. “Poi E”, composed by Dalvanius and Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi and performed by the Patea Māori Club, remains the only song in Te Reo Māori to reach No 1 in the charts, over 30 years since its 1984 release.
Singer Stan Walker makes his acting debut playing the lead role in feature film Mt Zion, shot in Pukekohe, Auckland. Walker stars as Turei, a talented young musician with a dream – for his band to win the audition to be the support act for Bob Marley’s 1979 concert in Auckland. Set amongst a Maori family of contract potato pickers in Pukekohe, in which Turei’s desperate ambition clashes with traditional whanau values, leading to an emotional showdown and powerful change. Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors), plays Turei’s father, the hard-working head contractor who has some lost ambitions of his own. Mt Zion is written and directed by Tearepa Kahi, who made the international award-winning short film Taua. Stan Walker won the 2009 Australian Idol singing contest and is now signed to Sony Music as a recording artist and EMI publishing as song writer.
A boy witnesses the seemingly magic powers of his Aunties and the continuation of tradition.
Stories of Waitara combines oral histories, state of the art animations and powerful dramatic re-enactments to bring to life the narratives of Te Ātiawa in their epic battle against the military might of the British Empire. Created and presented by award-winning journalist Mihingarangi Forbes NZ Wars: Stories of Waitara documents the epic battle for control over the fertile lands of Taranaki. Shared through the eyes of Te Atiawa descendants including Dr Ruakere Hond with insights from acclaimed historian Dr Vincent O'Malley this digital documentary project focuses on the beginning of the Taranaki wars which started in Waitara and raged across the region for over two decades. The Taranaki pa site of Pukerangiora holds a significant place in New Zealand's military history as a lasting symbol of Maori resistance and resilience. Pukerangiora is now the backdrop for the latest installment of RNZ's award-winning docu-series on the bloody birth of modern New Zealand.
