NAU MAI! NAU MAI! HAERE MAI KI tWAIROA! Te Ahurei Kiriata Māori o Te Wairoa! Pō Mai Matariki Huihui ai i mua I te mura ahi! Kōrero paki Kei ngā rangi Kukume manawa!
Matariki emerges Out of the night Gatherings in front Of blazing fires! Storytelling Heavenly bound Heart felt!
OUR TEAM Festival Director: Leo Koziol; Industry Day: Hiona Henare; Social Media: Faith Oriwia Henare-Stewart; Guest Services Coordinator: Tolissa McGregor; Festival Kaumatua: Ratu Tibble; Film Wairoa: Ira Heyder Board: Deborah Walker Morrison, Leo Koziol, Rebecca Collins, Louisa Tipene-Opetaia, Witi Ihimaera Whenua Jury: Jason Tahu Taylor, Jani Wilson, Lani-Rain Feltham Moana Jury: Craig Fasi, Robert George, Vea Mafileo Wairoa Māori Film Festival © Kaporangi Kiriata Film Arts Trust 2021
WAIROA VENUE MAP
SPECIAL EVENTS NUHAKA POWHIRI 4 pm Thursday June 3, Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka Nau Mai! Nau Mai! Haere Mai! Welcome to Wairoa Māori Film Festival 2021, at our special Nuhaka festival powhiri welcoming filmmakers to our 16th festival celebration.
OFFICIAL FESTIVAL POWHIRI 12 pm Friday June 4, Takitimu Marae, Wairoa Nau Mai! Nau Mai! Haere Mai! Welcome to Wairoa Māori Film Festival 2021, at our official festival powhiri marking the opening of five days of the best of Māori, Pasifika and world indigenous cinema.
CELEBRATING OUR SUCCESS FILM HUI – FREE EVENT AT FESTIVAL HUB 9 am to 12.30 pm, Saturday June 5th, Toi O Wairoa Art Gallery, Wairoa Taiwhenua Offices, North Clyde Join us for a morning of conversation, celebrating our success as Maori in film and media: 9 am Digital Storytelling Collective Panel 10 am Rautaki Maori with NZ Film Commission 11 am to 12.30 pm Native Storytellers Panel with Hiona Henare. Chantelle Murray & Judith Schuyler Nau Mai! Nau Mai! Haere Mai!
NGATI RUAPANI ASPIRATIONS – FREE SCREENING 4 pm Saturday June 5, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa Director/Writer:- Kararaina Rangihau, 35 min, Aotearoa 2021 (documentary) A film by Ruapani Mai Waikaremoana in association with Mist Maiden films. Ngāti Ruapani Mai Waikaremoana Treaty Negotiation Group ask the ahikā (home people) to imagine what the future holds for them post-setllement. The answers by the young people will both challenge and inspire you. This special premiere screening is presented in association with Ngāti Ruapani.
FESTIVAL AWARDS & HAKARI CELEBRATION 7 pm Saturday June 5, Wairoa War Memorial Hall, Wairoa (guests welcome from 6 pm - reception, Isaac Bell music videos) Join us for a special celebratory dinner, a Matariki feast to uplift the senses and restore our tinana & wairua. Prizes to be presented on the night include: WIFT Mana Wahine Award; Whenua Jury Māori Director (Short Film) Award; Moana Jury Pasifika Director (Short Film) Award; and Mana Wairoa Indigenous Director (Short Film) Award. Nau Mai, Nau Mai, Haere Mai to our Hakari Celebration. Māori cinema - food for the soul!
LIGHTING THE CELLULOID FLAME 12 pm to 2 pm, Sunday June 6th, Iwitea Marae, Iwitea Join us for an afternoon of conversation, lighting the celluloid flame of cinema success. Hosted by special guest filmmaker Hiona Henare Nau Mai! Nau Mai! Haere Mai! Special Event: Screening with live Zoom chat with Rhianna Yazzie:
A WINTER LOVE Rhianna Yazzie (Navajo), 2021 USA 923 minutes Blue, a 35 year old, Navajo, singer-songwriter has lost her creative spark to a series of bad relationships and to the harsh Minneapolis winter. But when she meets a younger guy, Eddie, a 25 year-old, Lakota, law school dropout, she feels like she's regained her edge only to find it slip away from her again when she discovers Eddie’s love was never his to give in the first place. A WINTER LOVE is modern day, inter-tribal, love story that shows true love is found in the season you love yourself.
FESTIVAL CENTREPIECE: PIXIE WILLIAMS A HOMETOWN CELEBRATION 7 pm Sunday June 6, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (guests welcome from 6 pm - reception) Wairoa Māori Film Festival proudly presents... We are bringing "Portrait of Pixie Williams" home to her hometown audience in Wairoa! A unique mix of documentary & performance showcasing the song-book of New Zealand’s first recording pop star and the music that influenced her. In 1949, Pixie Williams gave voice to one of the most enduring popular melodies of the twentieth century – Blue Smoke. A triple platinum hit that made Pixie a household name overnight, Blue Smoke was just the beginning. Pixie went on to record a further 12 songs, including another single platinum hit, mixing universal themes and international music styles with the unmistakable flavour of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Join Kirsten Te Rito, Rachel Fraser and Lisa Tomlins as they bring Pixie’s music to life with interpretations of her most loved recordings and the songs that shaped a generation. Programme: Welcome Reception Pixie Williams documentary by Daniel Mulholland and Julian Arahanga on the BIG SCREEN! Intermission & Special Presentation "Portrait of Pixie Williams" musical show with Kirsten Te Rito, Rachel Fraser and Lisa Tomlins Nau Mai! Nau Mai! Haere Mai! To a night of celebration of Pixie Williams! Our thanks to the generous sponsors Ngāti Pahauwera Development Trust, NZ Film Commission and Wairoa District Council Documentary: PIXIE Director Daniel Mulholland Producer Julian Arahanga 52 min 2020 Aotearoa (Documentary) Documentary about the life and times of Pixie Williams the singer of New Zealand's first pressed record and the number 1 hit 'Blue Smoke'. Short Film: WAKA HUIA Laurent LePrince 2020 15 min Belgium (Animation) An old man of Māori origin crosses the world between dream and reality in the footsteps of his grandfather killed in Belgium during the First World War. Iwi: Belgium Music: Hit songs from back in the days - Blue Smoke - Saddle Hill - Let’s Talk It Over Māoriland - Ain’t It A Shame - Māori Rhythm
COUSINS 5.30 pm Thursday 3rd June, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa 2 pm Saturday 5th June, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (with Briar Grace-Smith) 8 pm Monday 7th June, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa WARU directors Briar Grace-Smith and Ainsley Gardiner helm this time-transcending Māori drama based on Patricia Grace’s novel about three cousins, separated by circumstance, and their long journey to find each other. Grace-Smith co-stars with Tanea Heke (WARU) and Rachel House (HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE). Mata (Heke), Missy (House) and Makareta (Grace-Smith). Three cousins. Three lives. Separated by circumstances, yet bound together by blood. Orphaned Mata believes she has no whānau and lives out her lonely childhood in fear and bewilderment. Back home on the land, educated Makareta flees an arranged marriage to study law and begin the search for her missing cousin. She leaves behind cheeky yet dutiful Missy who takes on her role of kaitiaki (guardian) of the land. As the years pass, loss of the family land seems imminent and the women’s promise to bring their stolen cousin home seems more unlikely than ever, until a chance encounter changes everything. Directed by: Ainsley Gardiner, Briar Grace Smith | 2021 | 98 min. Country: Aotearoa Languages: English, Maori, with English subtitles
FEATURE FILM: BROKEN BARRIER 7 pm Thursday June 3rd, Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka 2 pm Sunday June 6th, Iwitea Marae, Iwitea JOHN O SHEA, 1952, 69 min NZ Feature Tom, a cynical freelance journalist, meets a Maori family who offer him a job on their farm, where he falls in love with their daughter, Rawi.Her parents oppose the relationship, and he starts to discover the differences in the two cultures. Broken Barrier is the romantic story of Tom Sullivan, a young journalist, and Rawi, the Maori girl he meets and falls in love with. While writing a series of articles on Maori life in the rugged North Island country of New Zealand, Tom is befriended by Rawi's family. The two fall swiftly in love, but her family disapproves of her marrying a white man. Finally, a quarrel reslults and Rawi returns to the dity to continue her career as a nurse. Their romance resumes when Tom follows her there; however, his family and friends raise a barrier against her. This. plus his unflatteing articles about the Maoris, once again thrust them apart. Tom goes off to the timber country, and in a stirring climax is saved from a raging forest fire by the sacrifice of a Maori friend. hes is reconciled with Rawi and in their marriage is seen the hope of better understanding between the races. "Broken Barrier” marked the first New Zealand dramatic feature to be made since 1940. Its production saw directors John O'Shea and Roger Mirams crowding into a Vauxhall with two silent cameras, one picked up "from a dead German in the Western Desert". Ditching dialogue for 'spoken thoughts', the pioneering film examines cultural complications in a romance between a Pākehā journalist (Terence Bayler) and a Māori nurse (Kay Ngarimu, aka Keita Whakato Walker). According to O'Shea, some viewers considered it "a dirty movie" for spurring mixed race relationships." -NZ On Screen
DAWN RAID 8 pm Thursday June 3, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (Preview Night) 6 pm Monday June 7, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa DAWN RAID Oscar Kightley 2021 98 min Aotearoa (Feature Documentary) The rise, fall and spiritual rebirth of the most iconic and influential music label in Pacific history, Dawn Raid Entertainment. Dawn Raid is the story of two Manukau Polytechnic students, Andy Murane and Tanielu Leaosavai'i (aka Brotha D) who turned a bootleg t-shirt business and Hip-Hop night at a local bar in Otara into the influential Dawn Raid Entertainment empire. From humble beginnings to fame and fortune, Andy, Brotha D and the Dawn Raid artists gave voice to a disenfranchised Pacific community, for which the violence of the dawn raids, twenty years previously, was still raw. But the bravado and contempt for the status quo that drove Andy and Brotha D to the top, was also the unravelling of their empire. Unpaid tax debts, rifts between artists, and a feeling of betrayal and failure underpinned the downfall of Dawn Raid Entertainment, though not before they had created an immeasurable musical legacy that would pave the way for future New Zealand artists to reach international audiences. Iwi: Samoa
OPHIR 1.30 pm Friday June 4, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa OPHIR Alexandre Berman, Olivier Pollet 97 min France/UK (Documentary) Ophir tells the story of an extraordinary indigenous revolution for life, land and culture, opening up the path for the creation of the world’s newest nation in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. A poetic yet dramatic ode to the indelible thirst for freedom, culture and sovereignty; the film sheds light on the biggest conflict of the Pacific since WWII, revealing the visible and invisible chains of colonisation and its enduring cycles of physical and psychological warfare. Iwi: Pakeha, Festivals: FIFO, DocEdge, Asinabka
BEYOND HUMAN POWER 3.30 pm Friday June 4, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa RED ROAD Wayne Valin-McDougall 2021 5 min Canada (Short Documentary) Wayne Valin-McDougall has rediscovered his traditional culture and it has helped him adopt a healthier lifestyle. He makes regalias in preparation for Pikogan's annual Pow Wow. Iwi: Anishinaabe-Innu BEYOND HUMAN POWER Gordon Loverin 2021 45 min Canada (Feature Documentary) An Indigenous father traces the traditional dance steps of his daughters as he explores the fallout of the Canadian Government's anti-potlatch law of 1884 and its most famous case that landed 23 west coast Indigenous men and women behind bars for between two and six months in BC's toughest jail in 1922. Iwi: Turtle Island
OPENING NIGHT: MANA MAORI SHORTS 6 pm Friday June 4, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (82 min) 12.30 pm Sunday June 6, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa Our hand-picked selection of Māori shorts from Aotearoa, all directed by Māori directors. Audience votes this evening from these finalists for the audience award winner (Māori short film) for 2021. (Note: Contains Mature Content, Triggering Themes.)
REUNION Rafer Rautjoki 2020 13 min Aotearoa (Drama) A lonely senior citizen is confronted by the spirit of her former fiance, intent on revenge for an apparent betrayal. Ahurei: HIFF 2020 | Iwi: Māori
TUAHINE Te Waiarangi Ratana 2020 5 min Aotearoa (Drama) A raw, poignant slice-of-life short that explores the clashing values of siblings Rangi and Grace. Ahurei: Māoriland 2020 | Iwi: Māori
THE OLD MAN NEXT DOOR Aidan Otene Dickens 2020 15 min Aotearoa (Drama) Matiu, a war veteran who struggles with PTSD and agoraphobia, is unable to leave the safety of his home since his wife’s passing. Ahurei: Māoriland 2021 | Iwi: Māori
RAGE Natala Gwiazdzinski 15 min Aotearoa (Drama) Joe’s on parole, having served 17 years. He revisits his family home to collect a treasured item and it dredges up painful memories. Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 | Iwi: Māori | Wananga: South Seas
MATUA Kaitiaki Rodgers 2021 19 min Aotearoa (Drama) A 32-year old Māori teacher learns that his mother has passed away and returns to his family estate to deal with his family home. Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 | Iwi: Māori
SPACE INVADER Isaac Bell 2021 15 min Aotearoa (Drama) Max is a small boy with a big imagination. Him and his Dad form a tight knit crew. Then Dad gets a new girlfriend… Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 | Iwi: Māori
OPENING NIGHT: JAMES & ISEY 8 pm Friday June 4, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa 4 pm Monday June 7, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa JAMES & ISEY Florian Habicht 2021 91 min Aotearoa (Feature Documentary) From the director of Kaikohe Demolition comes a Northland celebration of life and aroha like no other. Isey lives with her adult son James on their small farm in Kawakawa. They are descendants of Ngāti Manu – the Bird People. Isey is turning 100 in a week's time. In their unique relationship, James has devoted the last 20 years to looking after his mum and bringing the spirit world onboard to get her over 100. Northland filmmaker Florian Habicht follows the duo in their incredible week leading up to the big event. Iwi: Pakeha director.
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OPENING NIGHT: MIDNIGHT MADNESS 10 pm Friday June 4, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (96 min) (Note: Contains Mature Content, Triggering Themes.)
DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE - DENIAL Amber Beaton 2020 7 min Aotearoa (Experimental) Filmed on the tapu/sacred land of Taupo-Nui-a-tia, the film and music of Denial are seeking to call into question the weaponisation of memory, forgetting or denying the existence of colonisation and it's effects on tangata/people and whenua/land. The music is by indigenous activist metal band Divide and Dissolve made up of members Sylvie Nehill (Māori) and Takiaya Reed (Black, Tsalagi/Cherokee). The video was shot and edited by indigenous filmmaker Amber Beaton (Māori - Kai Tahu, Ngati Kahungunu). Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 | Iwi: Māori, Black, Tsalagi/Cherokee
PIZZA GIRL Jesse Gibson 2021 9 min Aotearoa (Drama) After being given her final warning, Erin commits to taking her job seriously. But on the one day she wants to make a change, her customers won’t make it easy for her. Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 | Iwi: Pasifika | Wananga: Unitec
KWÊSKOSÎW (SHE WHISTLES) Thirza Cuthand 2021 12 min Canada (Drama) En route to her girlfriend's place on a night when the Northern Lights are out, a 2-Spirit nêhiyaw woman is assaulted by her cab driver. Iwi: Plains Cree, Scots
ZEALANDIA Bruno DuBois 2020 15 min Aotearoa (Drama) In 2032, Zealandia has become the only virus free country left on earth but at a high cost to its population due to intrusive medical regulations. But, could the bag carried by a fearless woman be the downfall of this oppressive state? Ahurei: Show Me Shorts 2020 | Iwi: Pakeha
KARMA Sam Li 2020 16 min Aotearoa (Drama) Jack is anxious to return to China, but must make one final delivery for his boss. When bad weather and the break down of his car force him to take shelter in a mysterious run-down motel in rural New Zealand he meets a Māori lady, Kate, who will change his life forever. Ahurei: World Fest Houston | Iwi: Non-Māori
FLIP Jessica Grace Smith 13 min 2020 Aotearoa (Drama) FLIP is a sci-fi, action/adventure film about a mother and a daughter kept prisoner in a post-apocalyptic compound, who must destroy their oppressor if they are to survive. Ahurei: Toronto After Dark | Iwi: Pakeha
BALA Deborah Brown 2020 8 min Australia (Drama) A former navy officer grieves after learning of his much-loved grandfathers’ death. Feeling alone he questions his significance, the call of the ocean is strong. Ahurei: Asinabka, imagineNATIVE | Iwi: Mer Island, Yerrkawa
THE MOOGAI Jon Bell 2020 15 min Australia (Drama) An Aboriginal psychological horror, THE MOOGAI is the story of a family terrorised by a child-stealing spirit. Ahurei: MIFF, Flickerfest, SXSW 2021 | Iwi: Indigenous
MOANA NUI A KIWA SHORTS 9.30 am Saturday June 5, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (59 min) (Note: Contains Mature Content, Triggering Themes.)
NAU MAI E KĀ HUA Sebastian J. Lowe 2020 3 min Aotearoa (Experimental) An evocative sonic journey through the pristine waters of Te Wai Pounamu, Nau Mai e Kā Hua, is the first duo album by Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu) and Al Fraser, two leading players of ngā taonga puoro. Iwi: Pakeha
RED HOUSE Gerard Elmore 2020 19 min Hawai’i (Drama) Scotty, an addict shunned by his community, is released from prison and goes straight to the beach to test his longtime fear of the ocean. Ahurei: Taos Shortz, HIFF 2020 | Iwi: Kanaka Maoli
PICK OUR FRUIT Isack Hoppitt 2020 3 min Australia (Documentary) The nightlife of Canberra explain how they may react if their house began flooding. Ahurei: Pasifika 2020 Iwi: Samoan
MAWHIALEO OTE ALOWHA Valeriya Golovina 2020 15 min Aotearoa (Documentary) Meli and her husband Avito reflect on the pivotal decision of their lives. With much trepidation they left the tiny atoll of Tokelau for New Zealand seeking a better life for their son. Ahurei: Pollywood 2020, DocEdge, HIFF, FIFO | Iwi: Pakeha
ONIPA’A Dyllon Ching 2020 12 min Hawai’i (Drama) Onipaʻa is a story about Liʻi, who during the pandemic finds himself being the lone caretaker of a kalo farm or loʻi as everyone else has lost interest in the long standing cultural art. Ahurei: Māoriland 2021 | Iwi: Hawai’i
PANDEMIC SUPPORT GROUP Billiona Reyes 2020 7 min USA (Drama) A group of ladies come to a support group to discuss how they are handling the covid 19 pandemic. Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 | Iwi: Chamorro
AOTEAROA SHORTS 11.00 am Saturday June 5, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (71 min) 2 pm Monday June 7, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (Note: Contains Mature Content, Triggering Themes.)
KIKO - KA PUTA Francis Baker 2021 4 min Aotearoa (Experimental) An indigenous woman is reborn to fight for her culture. Iwi: Māori
TĀ MOKO - BEHIND THE TATTOOED FACE Mick Andrews, Dave Atkinson 2020 12 min Aotearoa (Documentary) Māori face tattooing, tā moko, is a tradition that almost died out through colonization. Bernard and Sapphire are passionate about seeing Māori communities unite and heal through rediscovering their customs. Ahurei: DocEdge, Tribeca | Iwi: Pakeha
MUM Jacob Tszicoukos 15 min Aotearoa (Drama) A young boy who cannot deal with the death of his mother will do anything to get her back, even time travel. Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 | Iwi: Māori | Wananga: South Seas
KINGDOM OF THE MIND Mumu Moore 2021 10 min Aotearoa (Documentary) Gulll takes us on a journey to find solace in the waters of the ocean.
TEA LEAVES Jake Mokomoko 2021 7 min Aotearoa (Drama) Maia’s life is thrown into turmoil when she receives a letter from her long-distance lover. Ahurei: Māoriland 2021| Iwi : Māori
WHITI Isaac Te Reina Cleland 2021 16 min Aotearoa (Drama) A young father is imploding after the abduction of his child. Ahurei: Māoriland 2021 | Iwi: Māori
WHAKAHOKIA THE JOURNEY HOME Dexter Cheng 2020 8 min Aotearoa (Documentary) Follow the journey of twenty-six-year-old Māori musician Ngaariki Muru as he returns home in an attempt to pick up the pieces of a cultural identity he left behind. | Iwi : Non-Māori
FRANKIE JEAN & THE MORNING STAR Hannah Marshall 2020 17 min Aotearoa (Drama) Executive Producer Chelsea Winstanley In the early hours of the morning, a plucky, rugby obsessed 8 year old girl stumbles across a teenager about to end his life. Iwi: Pakeha, Māori
MANA WAHINE SHORTS 12.30 pm Saturday June 5, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (71 min) (Note: Contains Mature Content, Triggering Themes.)
MALIHINI Ha'aheo Auwae-Dekker 2021 6 min Hawai’i (Experimental) An introspective look into Hawaiian identity and living on the mainland, filmmaker Ha'aheo Auwae-Dekker uses a candid conversation with their mother to dissect and deconstruct where they come from and how their family has lived in diaspora. Iwi: Kanaka Maoli
TE WAIRUA Lainey Bishop 2020 15 min Aotearoa (Drama) When Manaia loses her children due to an abusive relationship she starts to give up all hope and begins to admit defeat. Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 | Iwi: Māori | Wananga:South Seas Film & Television School
WHERE SMOKE RISES Kalilinoe Detwiler 6 min 2020 Hawai’i (Animation) Pua ka uahi is a wonder-filled Indigenous animation following Pele, a hot tempered fire goddess, who has been challenged by the shapeshifting trickster Kamapuaʻa in a race from Puna to Hilo. Iwi: Kanaka Maoli
OCEAN Chantelle Burgoyne 2021 12 min Aotearoa (Drama) A touching story of a young man going through a difficult time. Iwi: Samoa | Wananga: Toi Whakaari
GUESS YOU Jaimee Poipoi 2020 5 min Aotearoa (Drama) While on a date Sarah plays a game of Guess You. Iwi: Māori
VI'E MOKO E VI'E KENA Waitiare Kaltenegger Icka, Marcelo Varas 2020 8 min Rapa Nui (Drama) In Rapa Nui, the navel of the world, Patu tells the story of how they were haunted with his brother Heru, by the two women spirits called Vi'e Moko and Vi'e Kena. Iwi: Rapa Nui
DISSOCIATE GÁIDAT/MÁHCCAT Sunna Nousuniemi 2020 3 min Sami (Experimental) Dissociate is an experimental narrative about an Indigenous soul trying to survive in the capitalistic western society. Ahurei: Māoriland 2021 | Iwi: Sami
HE ARA ANŌ Holly Beckham 2021 16 min Aotearoa (Drama) A documentary reveals how a disconnection with wairua (spirituality) creates fertile ground for addiction to take hold of young wāhine. Iwi: Māori | Wananga: South Seas
THE LAST FOREST 5 pm Saturday June 5, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa THE LAST FOREST Luiz Bolognesi 2021 75 min Brazil (Documentary/Experimental) In an isolated Yanomani tribe in the Amazon, the shaman Davi Kopenawa Yanomani tries to keep the spirits of the forest and the traditions alive, while the arrival of gold prospectors brings death and destruction to the community. Young folks are charmed by the goods brought by the white; and Ehuana, who sees her husband disappear, tries to understand what happened in her dreams. Iwi: Yanomami (Pakeha filmmaker), Festivals: Berlinale 2021 Preceded by: THE SILENCE OF THE RIVER Francesca Canepa 2020 14 min Peru (Short Drama) Juan, a 9 year-old Peruvian boy, lives with his silent dad in a floating house on the breathtaking Amazon River. Iwi: Peru, Festivals: Berlinale 2020
HOUSE OF CHAMPIONS 10 am Sunday June 6, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa HOUSE OF CHAMPIONS Kirsty Griffin, Vivienne Kernick 2020 60 min Aotearoa (Documentary) Jonathan Celeste and Carla are off to the New Zealand Special Olympics National games in Wellington. All three are residents of a supported community in Thames. Iwi: Māori
PAKIPUMEKA SHORTS 11.00 am Sunday June 6, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa (77 min)
PLUCK Kirsty Griffin, Viv Kernick 2020 26 min Aotearoa (Documentary) For Jean, weaving Korowai is the ultimate taonga for her and for the wearer of her creation. She has made 15 Korowai to date for leaders in her community. But now she faces her own mortality with the realisation she hasn’t made any for her own whanau. Ahurei: DocEdge 2020 Iwi: Māori
PĒPI Jay Marino 9 min Aotearoa (Documentary) A true story of love and life, told by parents to their unborn child. Ahurei: Māoriland 2021 Iwi: Māori
THE PAKOHE TRAIL Keelan Walker 2021 15 min Aotearoa (Documentary) Follow Lewis Smith on journeys around his area, scouring the ancient trails and routes used by his tūpuna to collect pakohe, serpentine, garnet, and other valuable materials. Ahurei: Māoriland 2021 Iwi: Māori
TE HĀ O TE MAURI PUORO Sebastian J. Lowe 2020 3 min Aotearoa (Documentary) Te Hā o te Mauri Puoro - the breath that gives life force to healing vibrations of puoro’ is a short documentary film that was filmed during a three-day taonga puoro wānanga in Whanganui, Aotearoa New Zealand. Iwi: Pakeha
TOHU Te Ara Henare 2020 12 min Aotearoa (Experimental) He pakiwaitara, he pūrākau. Explore what tohu (signs) are and how they appear to us during dreamtime or in moments of meditation - and why our ancestors relied so heavily on them. Ahurei: WairoaMāori 2021 Iwi: Māori Wananga:South Seas Film & Television School Language: Te Reo Māori
THE CHILDREN OF THE CORAL 9.30 am Monday June 7, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa SOUL OF THE SEA Elvis Caj 2020 10 min Guatemala (Short - Experimental) Arisa dances every day and night to songs that tell of the struggles of her people and her ancestors. Iwi: Garifuna THE CHILDREN OF THE CORAL Karim Mahdjouba 2020 70 min French Polynesia (Documentary) Since 2017, the members of Coral Gardeners Association of Moorea have mobilised to replant corals in the seabed of Moorea. Today, this initiative led by Titouan Bernicot, 21, resident of the sister’s island of Tahiti, brings together volunteers aged from 14 to 25 years old. Iwi: Tahiti
PATU: THE LEGEND 11 am Monday June 7, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa RIVER OF SMALL GODS Bradley Tangonan 2021 15 min Hawai’i (Drama) Displaced from her home, a Native Hawaiian woman named Anela is hired by a mysterious sculptor to retrieve lava stones from a sacred riverbed deep in the forests of Hawaiʻi. Iwi: Filipino PATU: THE LEGEND Waitiare Kaltenegger Icka 2020 50 min Rapa Nui (Feature - Experimental) A tale of two warrior brothers, Heru and Patu, haunted by female spirits, blinded by beauty, magic and their own pride, lament the terrible consequences of the spell. Please note this film is the feature version of Vi’e ` Iwi: Rapa Nui
TURTLE ISLAND SHORTS 12.30 pm Monday June 7, Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa A special collection of short films from Turtle Island (Canada) curated by First Nations curator and Film Maker Judith Schuyler. Judith Schuyler will be present at Wairoa Māori Film Festival as a special guest curator.
GIK:SKWOD: HOW I LOST MY INDIAN NAME
2 min - Terry Jones (Seneca)
In this experimental short film, a Seneca filmmaker uses Walter Murch's editing concept to tell the story of how he lost his Native American "Indian" name.
EMPTYING THE TANK 10 mins - Caroline Monnet (Algonquin-French) This short doc highlights Muay Thai World Champion, MMA Champion and K1 Kickboxing North American Champion, Ashley Nichols who grew up on the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation.
GREED STORY 4 mins - Director Tom Mcleod (Inuvialuk), Animator Darcie Berhardt (Inuvialuk), Mentor Glenn Gear (Inuk) Narrated by McLeod and hand-drawn by Inuvialuk and Gwich’in artist Darcie Bernhardt, this animated story tells an old Inuvialuit parable of a man motivated by greed.
LOVE KILLS 10 mins - Judith Schuyler (Oneida) Evil High School Antics culminate in the creation of a monster. It’s wrath is unrelenting and the ensuing rampage adheres to the textbook formula of a typical “slasher” movie.
ZOMBIES AND INDIANS12 mins - Keith Lawrence (Cree) It’s the zombie apocalypse, and two friends are on watch at the barricades surrounding the Rez. Can they save the Rez from another Zombie attack?
A SONG OFTEN PLAYED ON THE RADIO 23 mins - Raven Chacon (Dine), Cristobal Martinez (Xicano) This film is a symbolic narrative of two characters representing Indigenous mestizos of Northern New Mexico who embody the complexity of the borderlands.
EGO OF A NATION 3 mins - Wes Day (Anishinaabe), Janet Rogers (Mohawk/Tuscarora) An experimental short film using creative imagery inspired by the poem “Ego of a Nation” by spoken word poet Janet Rogers
NIMKII 4 mins - Shane McSauby (Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians) A little girl discovers her power as a Nimkii (Thunderer) in Brooklynn, New York.
SHORTS @ TE O WAIROA GALLERY Catch these international short films at the Te O Wairoa Gallery throughout the festival weekend: STORIES IN THE WIND Deidre Jantjies, Dav Andrews, Clinton Jones 12 min 2020 South Africa (Animation) A First Nation Story of a Nama girl from Richtersveld, born with a gift on the day of her birth. The gift will be a blessing for the people that come from the Richtersveld community. A Nama and Afrikaans language story.Iwi: Nama IN THE SHADOW OF THE TUGTUPITE Inuk Jørgensen 2020 6 min Sweden/Greenland Cinematic portrait of despair and anxiety towards an unknown future for the Inuit of the world's largest island. Iwi: Inuk TRAIN STATION Lyana Patrick 2 min 2020 Canada (Animation) In this beautifully animated documentary short, filmmaker Lyana Patrick narrates her family's powerful story of love and survival at Lejac Indian Residential School. Iwi: Stellat’en KALAM Prabin Kumar Rawat 2020 18 min Nepal (Short Drama) Set during the outset of the Nepali civil war, the story follows an innocent teenager. Iwi: Nepal
A GOLDEN VOICE Patrick Shannon, Jenn Storm 2020 5 min Canada (Documentary) An imaginative take on the origin story of one of Canada’s most iconic Haida artists. 婦人 (FUJIN) Rachel Makana'aloha O Kauikeolani Nakawatase 2021 6 min (United States) Documenary 婦人 (Fujin) [foo-jeen] noun/plural noun, can be translated as a more formal or polite way to refer to a woman, such as “lady” or “madam” and in some contexts can mean “sisterhood” or “womenfolk.” SARDIS Colleen Thurston 11 min US Documentary 2020 Deep in the Choctaw Nation, a picturesque lake hosts an unusual sight: an island populated by rows of headstones. This cemetery floating in a man-made lake is the last relic of what was the town of Sardis, Oklahoma LA SABINA Ana Baer, Mexico 5 min (Experimental) 2020 La Sabina is an exploration of contemporary surrealism. Loosely based on the tales of Maria Sabina, a female shaman from the depths of Mexico who exposes the connections between the human and the spiritual worlds. WISH WE WERE OLDER Patrick Shannon Canada 3 min 2021 (Music Video) A music video for young Indigenous artist Angel Baribeau, about an LGBTQ+ 2Spirit Indigenous love story that spans a lifetime. NUXALK RADIO Banchi Hanuse Canada 3 min Documentary 2021 A day in the life of 91.1, Nuxalk Radio, a radio station built to help keep the Nuxalkmc language alive, broadcasting the laws of the lands and waters. IXCH’UMIL Miguel Angel Ajcot 12 min Drama 2021 Guatemala Ixch’umil is a 10-year-old girl who goes on a trip with her mother from Guatemala City to her hometown, they visit her grandmother who is sick. RESPECT THE GIFT Adrian Sutherland 3 min Canada Music Video 2021 Indigenous roots-rocker Adrian Sutherland from Attawapiskat First Nation recently released his second solo single Respect the Gift.
SHORTS @ TE O WAIROA GALLERY MAMAWI NIKAMOWAK (THEY SING ALTOGETHER) Catch these international short films at the Te O Wairoa Gallery throughout the festival weekend, presented by Asinabka: 1. “Mino Bimaadiziwin” (Living a good life) Produced / Written / Directed / Score Mimi O’bonsawin / Bawaadan Collective 2. “Credit River” Produced / Written / Directed / Score Marjan Verstappen / Bawaadan Collective 3. “I Pity The Country” Produced / Written / Directed Bawaadan Collective 4. Beekahncheekahmeeg Produced / Written / Directed / Score Maddy King / Bawaadan Collective 5. Bekka Produced / Written / Directed / Score Zoongide'ewin / ᓲᓐᑭᑌᐦᐁ᙮ 6. ᑭᐢᑌᓂᑕᐧᑲᓂᓂᐤ ᒪᑲᑌᐧᐃᔭᐢ ᐅᐱᒪᑎᓯᐧᐃᐣ Produced / Written / Directed / Score Brent Wesley / Bawaadan Collective Extra Thanks - Angela Shisheesh / Amber Starks / Kaluyahawi Jocelyn Antone 7. Kihtohtêtâ! Produced / Written / Directed / Score Mekwan Tulpin / Bawaadan Collective 8. House Back Produced / Written / Directed / Score Mike & Kate Murphy-Bettley / Bawaadan Collective 9. Łasdı̨ Produced / Written / Directed / Score T’áncháy Redvers ( Dené ) The McLaren Family ( Anishinaabe ) The Cheechoo Family ( Ililowuk ) The Russ Family ( Haida ) The Maracle Family ( Haudenosaunee ) The Ashawasegai Family ( Anishinaabe ) Bawaadan Collective 10. The Manitous Produced / Written / Directed Hector Tovar / Howard Adler / Bawaadan Collective Music generously provided by - Silla + Rise 11. A Sorta Fairytale Produced / Written / Directed / Score Bawaadan Collective / Teyenónhkwake / Alex Jacobs-Blum / O’nahkwi:yo