Te Taurima Whakaata Maori i te Wairoa | Wairoa Maori & Indigenous Film Festival 2008

WAIROA MAORI FILM FESTIVAL
A Celebration of Maori & Indigenous Film Worlds in Wairoa, Aotearoa New Zealand
Theme 2009: “Kia Tau Te Rangimarie”
- “Peace In Our Time”

Nau Mai! Nau Mai! Haere Mai! Haere Mai!
Nau Mai Haere Mai Ki Te Taurima Whakaata Maori I Te Wairoa 2009!

Welcome to the fourth Wairoa Film Festival! The Wairoa Maori Film Festival is a celebration of Maori and indigenous film worlds, and of the mana of Wairoa and its people. He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

Since 2005, we have been presenting a showcase of New Zealand Maori themed film works, including dramatic features, short films and documentaries. Indigenous film makers have also travelled from around the world to present their works and participate in the unique energy that is the Wairoa Maori Film Festival.

On the feature film front, we are proud to host the World Premiere of the new digital feature “Rua”, directed by Garth Wateneh. This poignant new independent feature is presented as part of our Gala Opening Night, along with a range of new Maori short films and our annual Nga Aho Whakaari sponsored reception. At the Gala Evening, there will be New Zealand premieres of new NZ Film Commission-funded short films, with new works by Maori directors Nancy Brunning, Ainsley Gardiner and brothers Meihana and Pere Durie.

This year, our international selection includes films from Canada, USA, Australia and Bolivia. This year’s festival theme is “Kia Tau Te Rangimarie” – “Peace In Our Time”, and this theme is represented in a special Peace-themed selection of archival films presented by the NZ Film Archive, and by the astonishing and prophetic “8^th Fire” from the Anishnabe people of North America.

This year’s programme is different to those prior because for the first time we are presenting one sequential programme, with no competition across our three venues. For the first time, we are also holding a special “pre-night” screening at the Kahungunu Marae in Nuhaka, with archival films focused on the community of our home village and its hinterlands. The new approach will enable our guest film-makers to maximize their wananga potential between each other, and for guests to take in fully the menu of great film works on offer.

The following is the programme of the Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2009, presented in chronological order. Films and events marked (*) are subject to confirmation.

Festival Director Leo Koziol hails from the village of Nuhaka in the Wairoa District, where he is part of the Rakaipaaka Iwi. Rakaipaaka was the eldest grandson of eminent ancestor Kahungunu, after whom the Kahungunu marae and tribe are named. Over the past year, Leo has been researching films directly about the community and people of Nuhaka. This research has been undertaken with the assistance of the NZ Film Archive and the National Library. A selection of Nuhaka archival films is presented with the assistance of the Kahungunu Marae Committee and Te Iwi O Rakaipaaka Inc.

Special Addition: Moko The Dolphin – YouTube Star Extraordinaire (approx. 15 mins)

Join us at the historic Taihoa Marae for the Official Festival Powhiri and Opening Ceremony, followed by a Hakari Luncheon to welcome our manuhiri.

A special selection of seven Maori short films selected especially for Matariki-time, including national premieres of NZ Film Commission funded short dramas:

Inspired by the raw energy of Tangaroa, God of the Sea, this powerful music video featuring TIKI TAANE pays homage to Maori tradition while paving the way for contemporary interpretation.

KEHUA NZ PREMIERE
2009 New Zealand 13 mins Dir / Writer Wiremu Grace Prod. Libby Hakaraia

On returning to his Maori home for the first time, a young boy discovers he has a gift for seeing Maori spirits- but he must gather all his strength to understand their messages.

JOURNEY TO IHIPA
2009 New Zealand 15 mins Director Nancy Brunning Writer Vicki-Anne Heikell Producer Makerita Urale EP Catherine Fitzgerald

When a young soldier dies during WWII, extended Maori family protect the bloodline by taking his baby from his European mother. She waits her whole life for him to return, but when he finally does, it's not what she hoped for...

A brilliant and exquisitely terrifying trip into the haunted soul of a man tormented by demonic shadows. Fasten your seat belts.

MOKOPUNA NZ PREMIERE
2009 New Zealand 12 mins Director / Writer Ainsley Gardiner Producer Glenis Giles

Mary is a part Mäori girl, living in middle class suburban New Zealand. After briefly befriending a young Mäori boy at her school, she becomes curious about his culture and its relevance to her. But it soon becomes clear that Mary is not quite ready to embrace her Mäori roots.

APHRODITE’S FARM
2008 New Zealand 15 mins Director Adam Strange Writer Peter Force Producer Anzak Tindall

Everyone in Taranaki wants to know the secret behind the magical milk produced on Aphrodite’s Farm. The family secret has remained safe for four generations. However when patriarch Ralph Riley dies, the future of the farm is thrown into jeopardy. The timely arrival of young farm hand Friday will bring the family’s destiny full circle… but things will get a whole lot worse before they get any better.

Join us we welcome and congratulate our Maori film makers, directors, producers and screenwriters, in this reception co-hosted by Nga Aho Whakaari Maori in Film & Television. A light Maori-Italian banquet of kaimoana, antipasto, pesto, pizza, pasta, pork, puha, and puttanesca will be served at this unique Maori movie evening.

Join us for the world premiere of this poignant new feature film by independent Director/Writer Garth Wateneh.

For the first time the Wairoa Maori Film Festival is holding a Festival Community Day as part of the Marae-based film screening programme. Taihoa Marae will be the locale for live performances, bouncy castles, sausage sizzles, a craft and kai market, and of course on-going film screenings throughout the day. The day will include a preview of the Wairoa musical talent performing at the evening’s awards dinner, as well as “meet and greet” with Maori film and tv stars, producers, directors and writers!

Join us in the Whare Nui at Taihoa Marae for the opening celebration of Wairoa Maori Film Festival’s first audio-visual installation centre, with a special breakfast reception, followed by continuous looped screenings of the following three audio-visual installation works:

An audio-visual exploration of the underwater life of Mahia’s newest folk hero, Moko the Dolphin, You Tube’s latest global media phenomenon!

Uncle Tasman: The Trembling Current That Scars The Earth is a deeply personal audio-visual installation work by Natalie Robertson. Robertson draws on customary and contemporary mythologies of land and place to examine paradoxes of economic development and environmental destruction.

An indigenous audio-visual interpretation of place. Michelle Lee is an AUT graduate of Master Of Visual Arts.

˜Taihoa Marae (Whare Nui), 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Saturday June 20^th (One Day Only)

THE 8^th FIRE (PEACE THEME)
2008 USA 60 mins Director Cindy Pickard and Anne Pickard

They will come to a fork in the road. One road will lead to Materialism and Destruction.....for almost all living creatures....The other road will lead to a Spiritual Way upon which the Native People will be standing...This path will lead to the lighting of the 8th fire, a period of eternal peace, harmony and a "New Earth" where the destruction of the past will be healed - Anishnabe prophecy

The prophecy of the 8th fire is one of many ancient prophecies that refer to the year 2012 and the years directly preceding it. The 8th Fire focuses on Dave Courchene Jr., an Elder and spiritual adviser from the Eagle Clan of the Anishnabe Nation, whose traditional name means LEADING EARTH MAN. Descended from a long line of chiefs and leaders of his people, he felt "compelled by forces beyond his control" to quit his job as an educator and go on a ceremonial expedition of peace around the world.

The astonishing journey of kids plucked from the bush and shopping malls who stormed their way onto world stages with a Maori diva, Mika. Edgy, raw and shockingly honest, this documentary reveals seven years of sweat, tears and lime green tights.

Ladies were dancing up in the Milky Way, and the baby fell down from a Coolamon, fell down there, and created that meteorite crater. An emotive, traditional style Nganampa, about a Western Arrernte story. Herman Malbunka talks about the significance of the place; Googes Bluff, with a woman’s side and a man’s side, and its major significance to the Western Arrernte people. About the morning star, the evening star, the Milky Way and the Universe. The style is poetic, beautifully filmed, with time-lapse shots of the night sky, helicopter shots, dawn and dusk, overlaid with the traditional song about the falling of the child, and the creation of the place, Googes Bluff.

Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back is an hour-long documentary about the personal story of Mohawk filmmaker Reaghan Tarbell from Kahnawake, Quebec, as she explores her roots and traces the connections of her family to the Mohawk community in Brooklyn, New York. For over 50 years, the Kahnawake Mohawks, of Quebec, Canada occupied a 10 square block area in the North Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which became known as Little Caughnawaga. The men, skilled ironworkers, came to New York in search of work and brought their wives, children and often, extended family with them. The story of the Mohawk ironworkers is an important one and is one that has been told and continues to be told through documentaries, newspaper and magazine articles. Yet the stories of Kahnawake Mohawk women who lived in Brooklyn have gone untold.

Let My Whakapapa Speak follows the life and times of Iritana Te Rangi Tawhiwhirangi, an extraordinary woman who emerged in the post-war era in New Zealand as one of the leaders behind the ground-breaking Kohanga Reo Maori language revitalization movement. Kohanga Reo is based on the simple but powerful principle of total immersion in Maori language and values. Twenty-five years later, the effects of this program have been profound – children can now grow up and do all of their schooling in the Te Reo Maori language. The program’s success has inspired and attracted the attention of of international groups. This insightful documentary chronicles the early days struggles of the burgeoning movement and presents an inspiring portrait of an uncompromising woman on the forefront of change.

A cross-cultural tale of love between a Maori heart-throb (Shortland Street's T.K. aka Ben Mitchell) and a beautiful Indian migrant (Celine Jaitley - former Miss India Universe 2001). Fascinated by each other's cultures, the pair fall in love, to the surprise of both themselves and the people around them. The movie was filmed mainly in Auckland, with a couple of scenes in Queenstown. Starring Ben Mitchell, Celine Jaitley, Kiran Kumar, Rati Agnihotri.

Following the Awards presentation, a hangi dinner catered by the ringawera of Taihoa Marae will be served and the entertainment will commence.

Musical entertainment for the evening is a smorgasbord of local musical talent, including guitar legend “Billy T.K. Experience featuring Brannigan Kaa,” Pacific Beats Winner 2008 “Upper 2 Street” (*TBC), Pacific Beats Finalist 2008 Ropata (*TBC) and emerging club hop talent “JORDY”.

Billy T K has been wooing NZ audiences since the 60s with bands such as The Sinners, Human Instinct & Powerhouse. 1996 saw him on stage in Auckland playing with Carlos Santana. 2002 he was a headliner at WOMAD. These days he performs regular gigs around NZ with such artists as Billy T K Junior and Emma Paki. His music still reflects his early influences of Hendrix, Santana & McLaughlin and every time he plays the young people are gobsmacked and the oldies relive the past.

A last formal opportunity for film-makers to get together before the final day of screenings,before the film-makers begin to make their way home. Film-makers have travelled near and far to yet another wonderful Maori film festival, and we give thanks to our gracious hosts at Taihoa Marae who have provided the base for this year’s event. After this brunch, film-makers will have the opportunity to stay for the remaining film programme, or perhaps take in some of the sights of the beautiful Wairoa district before they begin their journey home.

EL REGALO DE LA PACHAMAMA
2008 Bolivia 104 mins Director Toshifumi Matsushita In Quechua with English subtitles

Pachamama is a spiritual docudrama set in Bolivia, where a 13-year-old boy lives a traditional life with his family near Uyuni, a salt lake. One spring, he goes with this father on his first caravan. With blocks of salt strapped to their herd of llamas, they travel “The Salt Trail” for several months, exchanging salt for other products of the Andes. He begins to learn who he is as a young man and a Quecha from their many experiences and encounters. As the trip comes to its close, he meets a beautiful girl at a festival in a sacred place of his people. The two young people feel a stirring in their hearts as they share a simple but profound dream: to ride a bicycle together across the salt lake. By the end, he discovers what his grandfather means by “The Gift of Pachamama.” (Withoutabox.com)

Once again we are pleased to have Craig Fasi and the Pollywood programme at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival. Craig Fasi is of Niuean descent, and curates Auckland’s annual Pollywood film festival programme. Once again, Craig Fasi travels to Wairoa to present the Pollywood programme of Pacific Island film makers from Aotearoa and across the Pacific.

TAKING THE WAEWAE EXPRESS
2008 NZ 100 mins Directors Andrea Bosshard and Shane Loader

When Wiremu's younger brother dies in a car accident, blame and bitterness take their toll as love and loyalty are tested within his circle of friends and family. Nevertheless life goes on. It is still possible to fall in love, to laugh again, to play soccer and to sing. But it takes courage to move on and unless you take the first step, you can't take the next. This first feature of Wellington filmmakers Andrea Bosshard and Shane Loader abounds with authenticity, engaging characters, compassion and unexpected humour. Cast includes: Matariki Whatarau, Rangimoana Taylor, Evan Hussey, Isaac Heron, Tamati Pere, Jess Aalton, Susanne Svanberg, Chong Sin Lim, Jacob Renwick-Faauga. Rated M (Contains drug use and offensive language.)

A selection of innovative and experimental short films from Ojibwe film-maker Daryl Nepinak:

ZWEI INDIANER AUS WINNIPEG 5 mins
Two ersatz “Indian warriors” chase a beautiful Indian maiden through the streets of Winnipeg. But she loves Chief Big Bear. Who is the hunter, and who the hunted in this tableaux?

THE CLASSIC SPELLING BEE REZ STYLE 1 min 45 sec
I-N-D-I-A-N. A take on the Spelling bee, Rez-style! A funny short directed by Darryl Nepinak of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

GOOD MORNING NATIVE AMERICA 5 mins
Darryl Nepinak’s Good Morning Native America (2006) is a clever five-minute comedy about a talk-show host who broadcasts a local cable show from his living room.

BIGFOOT 13 mins
In the most revealing Bigfoot documentary to date, the true nature of this elusive creature is unleashed on the hordes of tourists, protestors, and hunters who gather for the annual Bigfoot hunt extravaganza.

MY INDIAN NAME 5 mins
My Indian Name documents filmmaker Darryl Nepinak's journey as he receives his Indian name.

Darryl Nepinak (Ojibwe) works at the Ndinawe Youth Resource centre in Winnipeg, Canada. He lived in Gisborne, New Zealand for 10 months in 2004, where he directed a documentary about the 30-year history of Te Ora Hou Aotearoa, a Maori youth organization, and mentored Maori teens in video production.

As part of the Wairoa Maori Film Festival's annual "Mana Wairoa" archival selection, the NZ Film Archive presents a range of historical film works related to the theme of peace - Kia Tau Te Rangimarie.

RAIN OF THE CHILDREN*
CLOSING NIGHT
2008 New Zealand 102 mins Director Vincent Ward Rated M

We close the Wairoa Maori Film Festival’s screening programme with Vincent Ward’s stunning and redemptive docu-dramatic film work, the Rain of the Children. After a light closing supper, join us for this unique Marae-based screening of this landmark film work.

Vincent Ward's deeply personal and incredibly moving film unravels and re-imagines the story of Puhi, the Tuhoe woman he documented in 1978 for his early film In Spring One Plants Alone. Then she was 80 and caring for her adult son, and Ward was 21, a young art student capturing her traditional way of life...

Puhi believed herself to be cursed, and this unknowable curse is what preoccupies Ward now. Puhi, he discovers, was an extraordinary woman. Chosen by Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana to marry his son, she survived the 1916 police raid on Rua's Maungapohatu community and went on to have 14 children. Cutting between early footage, his own to-camera narration, contemporary interviews with Tuhoe descendents, and magnificently recreated historical sequences (featuring Rena Owen as the older Puhi among a superb cast of Maori actors); Ward reveals both the heartrending background of Puhi's belief in the curse, and her lasting power over him.

Cast: Miriama Rangi, Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Taungaroa Emile, Waihoroi Shortland, Toby Morehu, Mahue Tawa, Mikaira Tawhara, Harmony Wihapi.

Gala Opening Night $10 Adults / $8 Children & Kaumatua
(Opening Night includes Matariki Short Films, Film-Makers Reception, Maori / Italian kai light supper and “Rua" Digital Feature World Premiere

Taihoa Marae Saturday /Sunday: $5 per screening or $10 day pass
(Entry includes free tea / coffee, biscuits and popcorn)

Awards Night $50 ea. / $500 for Table x 10 (includes hangi dinner & live entertainment)

Nestled along the beautiful Wairoa river, the small town of Wairoa is an undiscovered jewel. The Wairoa Maori Film Festival 2008 is a public event planned to be held at Taihoa Marae and theWar Memorial Hall, both located in the Wairoa township. The Festival Award’s night will be held at the historic Wairoa War Memorial Hall.

A special screening, open to the general public, is also to be held at Kahungunu Marae, Ihaka Street, Nuhaka, located 32 km to the northeast of Wairoa.

The township of Wairoa is one hour by car from Gisborne and an hour and a half from Napier and Hastings. There is a small airport in Wairoa, but it has no regular flight service. Daily flights from Auckland and Wellington go to Gisborne and Napier airports, with rental car services available at both locations. For flight bookings to Gisborne, check out the Air New Zealand website www.airnz.co.nz.

The road from Gisborne is less difficult and skirts the Wairoa coastline between Nuhaka and Wairoa township. The road from Napier is more difficult, but includes a scenic journey past Lake Tutira and through the Mohaka gorge. Inter City Coach Services run a daily service to Wairoa from Napier and Gisborne, with convenient connections across the North Island to Auckland and Wellington.

For all your travel planning needs contact the Wairoa Visitor Information Centre: Ph. 06.838.7440.

Wairoa Maori Film Festival Society Inc.
C/- PO Box 85, NUHAKA
WAIROA DISTRICT
Aotearoa New Zealand

Email: maorimovies@gmail.com

www.manawairoa.com

Ph.Chairperson - Huia Koziol (64)6.837.8854 Ph. Festival Director - Leo Koziol (64)9.528.3157

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