MFF2024 Program

ŌTAKI 20-24 MARCH 2024

Front Cover Image: "Kia tau te Rongomau".

This artwork draws on many aspects of Māori history to depict and advocate for peace. It invites viewers to reflect on different manifestations of peace and embrace it as a path forward.

Firstly, the wahine in the image is in a stance of placing the 'wero', this is when the 'rau' (opportunity to show peace) is laid before the manuhiri. This highlights the opportunity to take up the 'wero' (or challenge) to work together as friends, not foe. She holds out to the viewer a dove, the olive branch, the Parihaka peace feathers and the International symbol for peace. She wears a blanket like those used in trade, and wears the 'tatau pounamu mere' in her ear, both used to solidify peace between parties. The Parekawakawa she wears on her head acknowledges the tears that have been shed, the grievances, the land, language, culture and people that have been lost. The huia feather signifies the importance of this kaupapa, 'He kaupapa ariki,’ and also a reminder of how things that are precious to the sustenance of the people need to be cherished and maintained in case they are lost, as the Huia bird.

Toitū is our stance, our protest and proclamation: 'Toitū te whenua, Toitū te Tiriti, Toitū te Reo, me Toitū hoki te Rongomau'. Regan Balzer

Te Hunga TautokoAcknowledgements

Welcome to the tribal lands of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga: Home to the subtribes of Ngāti Korokī, Ngāti Maiōtaki, Ngāti Huia ki Katihiku, Ngāti Pare and Ngāti Kapu. We are grateful for the support of Ngā Hapū o Ōtaki, our kaumātua and kuia, our kaimahi and our whānau. And to all of those who support the kaupapa, tēnā koutou.

FESTIVAL PARTNERS

He Kupu WhakatakiFrom The Festival Director

Kia tau te rongomau

MFF2024 started with a search for films that were Authentic, Indigenous, and Original - ĀIO. In Māori this means to be calm and at peace.

When we think of peace, its often in stasis - an absence of conflict but also activity. We wish for peace as if it's a gift or miracle that will simply appear. But, peace is a response. For there to be peace, there must have been conflict.

Over recent months, we’ve watched a seemingly endless barrage of horror and cruelty up close. This isn’t necessarily new - but our proximity to violence, with little recourse or mainstream condemnation is. It’s overwhelming, and an easy response is to switch the bad news off. It’s harder to remain alert, present and strive for peace. Indigenous perspectives show different ways of co-existing, of managing conflict and living in reciprocity with our environment. We see in Indigenous film, its power to change the course of history.

I vividly remember the first time I watched Merata Mita's film Bastion Point: Day 507. I was a student at University of Auckland, in a dismal and uninspiring room. It was cold. But from the moment that film started, I was electrified as the illusion of the world I’d been taught about collided with the realities of the world I’d felt existed.

Since Merata Mita made Bastion Point: Day 507 in 1978, three generations

of Indigenous filmmakers have fought and worked tirelessly to tell their stories. Their storytelling has changed the world.

The impact of this is such, that for the rangatahi we work with at Māoriland, their connection to Indigenous storytellers in film and in their communities enables them to understand Aotearoa as a wholly different country to the tense New Zealand I was born into.

Their world, and the 'world' we collectively inhabit, is larger and more connected than ever in all human history. It’s a world that encourages understanding and embraces community. It shows we can change.

When we started Māoriland, Libby Hakaraia, as festival director grew a festival and then an organisation celebrating community and recognition for Indigenous storytellers. We’ve been part of “the rise of Indigenous cinema” we’ve seen globally.

Merata Mita believed in community too, forging many enduring relationships around the Indigenous world. This was recognised by the Sundance Institute in 2016, when they created a fellowship for Indigenous female filmmakers in her name. So it was a full circle moment, when at the Sundance Film Festival in late January Libby was named this year's Merata Mita Fellow recognising her contribution to Indigenous filmmaking and her vision to create Aotearoa’s first monster film.

As Libby has moved into the role of Head of Content at Māoriland Productions, I became the festival director. This wasn’t a sudden move, it was succession planning in action.

The Indigenous screen world is built on the efforts of those who have pushed to go further, and in 2024 we’ve seen the largest number of eligible submissions in our festival's history. Our program includes 168 titles from over 130 nations featured across feature film, documentary and shorts programs, and the largest M.A.T.C.H exhibition yet.

Our opening night screening is the world premiere of season two of The Reciprocity Project. It's a testament to our capacity to collaborate globally and work harmoniously with the planet. These films explore Indigenous ways of life that focus on mutual exchange and sharing amongst all beings; past, present and future, seen and unseen — and Earth herself.

We have also chosen to highlight films from Te Whenua MoemoeāAustralia. In 2023, their referendum about whether there should be a dedicated Aboriginal voice in their

parliament coincided with our own election in Aotearoa. Our Māoriland team were on Gadigal Country in Sydney when the result of the Referendum was announced. As we participated in panels on Indigenous potential and collaboration, we felt the mamae, the sadness in the hearts and souls of filmmakers from the first peoples of Australia. In this environment, we have to find a new path.

Indigenous films create understanding. Understanding creates empathy. Empathy creates peace. We have the stories to change the world.

Kia tau te rongomau

Let peace and enlightenment reign

Ki tēnei piringa

Over this gathering

Ki tēnei nohoanga

Over this dwelling

Ki tēnei huihuinga

Over these people

Nāku me ngā mihi aroha.

Madeleine Hakaraia de Young Festival Director

He HuatauMāoriland Charitable Trust

Poipoia te kakano kia puāwai. E ngā karanga maha mā, e ngā tini hoa mā, tēnā koutou.

The Māoriland Charitable Trust (MCT) is committed to creating social, cultural and economic opportunities for our community of Ōtaki, filmmakers and artists.

As we move into 2024, we can't help but reflect on the successes of Māoriland productions and programmes over the previous year.

Māoriland Productions produced three short films and an animated series in 2023 and pitched the feature film Taniwha at markets worldwide. This work will accelerate in 2024, including an international re-versioning project for He Paki Taketake, to be announced soon.

With our commitment to fostering new Māori and Indigenous talent, we successfully launched the Puritia Incubator - a screen acceleration programme for 15 rangatahi from across Aotearoa to develop hard screen industry skills. Four rangatahi were selected to work on Kath Akuhata Brown's feature film Kōkā, of which Māoriland Productions Head of Content Libby Hakaraia is a producer.

During the same period, we presented the latest M.A.T.C.H. (Māoriland Tech Creative Hub) Creative Intensifier Program - training seven further rangatahi in film, animation and sound.

At the Māoriland Hub, we aspire to Indigenous excellence in film and all forms of artistic expression.

Toi Matarau - Māoriland's contemporary Māori art gallerycelebrates our incredible visual artists in our community and across Aotearoa. In 2023, the collective of renowned Māori carvers Te Matatoki took up their Māoriland Residency to create the pou (posts) of Māoriland. Two of these will be revealed at MFF2024.

Te Ara Toi provides year-round opportunities for young people to experience and participate in the arts. All these projects are complemented by the Māoriland Maara and Māoriland Kai Collective, who work to transform and support our community through food sovereignty and para kore practices (waste minimisation). From our maara, we provided over 200 kg of freshly grown kai to the community while maintaining waste diversion rates above 90% for all of our events.

The MCT is an independent Māori entity with a Board of Trustees, the Māoriland founders Te Kāhui Kākano, and a mandate from Ngā Hapū o Ōtaki, the five sub-tribes of Ōtaki. He mahi ngātahi nei te whāinga. Kāti. Kei ngā haumi katoa, kei te hāpai ō, tēnā koutou.

Nā mātou noa, Māoriland Charitable Trust

MĀORILAND CHARITABLE TRUST

John Barrett (Chair)

Tania Hakaraia

Dee McDonald

Huhana Smith

Tainui Stephens

Francene Winiti

Horiana Irwin-Easthope

Te Kāhui Kākano

Libby Hakaraia

Tainui Stephens

Pat Hakaraia

Tania Hakaraia

Madeleine de Young (Ngā Pakiaka)

Te Tīma o Māoriland:

Carly Stowers

Clara Hakaraia

Elishka Graham

Ethan Seddon Cope

Jasmin Day

Josh Parata

Katera Rikihana

Koro Wira-Henare

Kurupae Rikihana

Louisa Donnell

Maakarita Paku

Maaka Gair-Houia

Matariki Black

Matilda Poasa

Oriwa Hakaraia

Rawiri Rikihana

Tahuaroa Ohia

Te Ata Rikihana

Turanga Mahutonga

Kaitūao

and KaihāpaiOur support team

At Māoriland, we extend manaakitanga to our audiences, artists and filmmakers. We aim to do our best to ensure you have a memorable stay with us here in Ōtaki.

Those who volunteer their time to help make the MFF run smoothly are our KAITŪAO.

Our KAIHĀPAI - who you’ll see in front of every screening are rangatahi from the schools in our community.

We respect our Kaitūao and our Kaihāpai. They represent our community with pride. Feel free to ask them anything about Ōtaki or Māoriland.

Tēnā hoki koutou rangatahi mā, kua riro mā koutou hei taituarā mō te kaupapa. E mihi ana.

Hauora

Hauora, the well-being of our audiences and artists is important to us at Māoriland. We understand that films can affect people in different ways. Having a kōrero after a film is great therapy for emotions that may arise after screenings, let the kaimahi at the Māoriland Hub know, and they will do what they can to help you.

Ngā Pou o te Whare KōreroThe Foundation Posts

of Māoriland

Hou mai koe ki roto i te whare kōrero o Māoriland. Ko tōna tāhuhu ko te iwi, ko te poutāhu ko te mana o te kupu, ko te poutuarongo ko te ira tangata. Kei waenga ko te poutokomanawa o te aroha noa. Ka mutu, ko ngā pou koko ka titi iho ki te whenua ko ēnei:

We bid you entry into our house of stories. The ridgepole is the people, the front post is the authority of the word, the rear post is the essence of our humanity. Between them, we find the support pillar of love. The posts that anchor the corners to the land are these:

KOAKOA - CELEBRATION

Māoriland celebrates the rise of Indigenous cinema. It invites filmmakers from around the world to share their compelling big-screen stories with us, and with each other.

OHOOHO - INSPIRATION

Māoriland upholds the mana and inspiration of our storytellers. We are guided by our elders, and taught by our children. The festival assists our community to expand their perspectives and connect with those from other cultures.

MANAAKI - RESPECT

Māoriland is rooted in the traditions and language of the hapū and iwi of Ōtaki. It is our honour to extend manaakitanga to the many visitors to the festival.

KŌTAHITANGA - INCLUSION

Māoriland provides a portal to the Indigenous world for ALL people. It assists social cohesion, a sense of pride, and the informed well-being of our community.

Kāti. Tūia te kawa, tairanga te kawa, ko te kawa o te manaaki i te tangata tēnei ka poua nei.

He mea tuhi nā Tainui Stephens (Te Rarawa) 2016. Extract from chant marking the opening of the Māoriland Hub 2016.

MĀORILAND HUB

68 Main Street Ōtaki

Monday - Saturday 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Festival ticket office will be open during the festival

The Māoriland Hub in the Ōtaki township is open throughout the year. It showcases Indigenous creativity and innovation through film, visual, music and performing arts, technology, kōrero, and more.

At the Māoriland Hub, you will find the Toi Matarau Art Gallery, M.A.T.C.H - the Māoriland Tech Creative Hub, Māoriland Productions and the Māoriland Filmmaker Residency.

Toi Matarau

Mana Motuhake

ŪKAIPŌ

March 20 - May 20, Toi Matarau Gallery

A showcase of mana motuhake and connection to whenua, land. Traditional and contemporary works by senior Māori artists of the ART confederation, iwi of Aotearoa, Te Moana Nui ā Kiwa, and whenua taketake.

RARANGA

Poutokomanawa of Toi Matarau, Sonia Snowden (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Kuta). A fine kete whakairo weaver of the esteemed Kāhui Whiritoi, a Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa national member and Distinguished Weaver of Toi Iho™.

WHAKAIRO

Te Matatoki continue their Māoriland Artists Residency at the back of the Māoriland Hub. Masters of the adze led by Fayne Robinson, Ian-Wayne Grant, Lewis Gardiner and other kaiwhakairo of Aotearoa are carving the four pou (posts) to anchor the Māoriland Hub.

TOI MOKO

Available to only our international filmmaker guests, this year's Toi Moko experience is an intimate connection with local artist Lorna Tawhiti (Ngāi Te Rangi, Waikato, Tainui). Limited bookings are available at Toi Matarau.

Māoriland Film Festival (MFF) is Aotearoa’s international Indigenous Film Festival

This 10th edition of the MFF is the largest showcase in the festival’s history with over 150 Indigenous nations presenting over 140 feature and short films as well as games, VR and visual arts.

Nau mai hoki mai - welcome to Ōtaki for MFF2024.

Hei WhakakitengaThe Declaration of Indigenous Cinema

We the Indigenous screen storytellers United in this northern corner of our mother, the earth

In a great assembly of wisdom we declare to all nations:

We glory in our past:

• when our earth was nurturing our oral traditions

• when night sky evoked visions animated in our dreams

• when the sun and the moon became our parents in stories told

• when storytelling made us all brothers and sisters

• when our stories fostered great chiefs and leaders

• when justice was encouraged through the stories told

We will:

• hold and manage Indigenous cultural and intellectual property

• be recognised as the primary guardians and interpreters of our culture

• respect Indigenous individuals and communities

• nourish knowledge from our traditions to modern screen appearance

• use our skills to communicate with nature and all living things

• through screen storytelling heal our wounds

• through modern screen expression carry our stories to those not yet born

And thus through motion picture, we will make the invisible visible again.

We vow to manage our own destiny and recover our complete humanity in pride in being Indigenous screen storytellers.

Created by Åsa Simma (Sámi), with Darlene Johnson (Dunghutti).

Accepted at the Indigenous Film Conference in Kautokeino, Sápmi, October 2011.

Indigenous Cinema

Indigenous peoples play a vital role as guardians of some of the most biodiverse regions on our planet.

Our territories hold rich biological diversity, and our cultural and linguistic diversity contributes to the evolving tapestry of our humanity.

Furthermore, our traditional knowledge is an invaluable resource that benefits society as a whole.

However, Indigenous communities still face significant challenges, including discrimination, marginalisation, extreme poverty, and conflict. Many Indigenous peoples are being deprived of their ancestral lands, threatening their livelihoods and cultural heritage. In some instances, our belief systems, languages, and ways of life are on the verge of extinction.

Indigenous filmmakers bring these stories into the light. This contributes to growing recognition worldwide of these threats, and the staunch efforts made to address them.

This includes land claims settlements, constitutional amendments, and symbolic actions like apologies for past mistreatments.

Ko Te Kawa Nui Ia, He Manaaki i Te Tangata

Māoriland is committed to creating a safe environment for all our kaimahi and visitors.

The values and functions of Māoriland are derived from cornerstone principles of celebration, unity, vigilance, and respecting the mana of every person and taonga in our whare.

We ask that manuwhiri and visitors alike respect the mana of all who you may encounter.

Some of our spaces are small and lack airflow, so consider wearing a mask while watching a film. If you are feeling sick, please stay home.

Everyone, including Kaumātua and Rangatahi, filmmakers, artists and industry, and members of the public, have the right to be free of harassment, discrimination, sexism, and threatening or disrespectful behaviour - either in-person, online, or from any who are attending Māoriland events.

Te Taiao

During the five days of the Māoriland Film Festival, the population of our Ōtaki community more than doubles.

At the Māoriland Film Festival, we intend to present a Zero Waste event as part of our year-round Para Kore kaupapa. We encourage you to join us and reduce your impact on our taiao - environment. Our 2024 focus for Para Kore is the reduction of single-use food containers.

The first step is precycling - please avoid single-use plastics and excess packaging.

• Along Ōtaki’s Main Street, you will notice particular bins labelled for mixed recycling and compost. These contents will be returned to the Māoriland Hub Para kore site to be sorted, washed, composted, or recycled.

• Mixed Recycling Bins can take hard and soft plastics, clean paper and card, glass and aluminium, and tin.

• Compost bins can take any organic and commercially compostable material, including meat and bones.

• At the Māoriland Hub, all organic materials will be put into our NZ Box, a ‘hot composting’ system.

• Choose reusable plates, bowls, cups, etc, in food truck areas. After use, these can be returned to a marked receptacle in the same area. Reusables will be hygienically cleaned, steamed and made available for use again at food truck sites.

We welcome any MFF visitors who may wish to help out at the Māoriland Hub’s Para Kore site.

Tips to reduce your impact

• Precycle - where possible, reduce your waste at the source - avoid single-use items, plastics and unnecessary packaging.

• Bring your own reusable coffee cup, bag and reusable water bottle.

• Choose reusable plates, cups, and bowls in the food truck area.

• Any waste food can be put in compost bins.

• Washable plates are deposited in marked receptacles in the food truck area where you collected them. Our festival kaimahi will be collected, cleaned, steamed, and made available again.

• Separate your waste; most will go into compost and recycling; landfill is available as a last resort - follow the detailed signs. When possible, wash recyclables.

• Offset your travel: Catch the free Māoriland bus, train, carpool, walk, or cycle.

Ngā TīkitiTicketing Information

Don’t miss out on seeing your films.

Purchase your tickets in advance via iticket.co.nz or at the Māoriland Hub.

Ticket sales close 15 minutes prior to all screenings.

No door sales are available at screening venuesyou must have a pre - purchased ticket to enter.

TICKETS

All events unless otherwise specified

Māoriland Red Carpet Party

Māoriland Rangatahi Film Festival

PASSES

$8 - $20

Choose your price - tickets start at $8

$35 - $75

Choose your price - tickets start at $35

Schools by Koha. Schools must register to attend or contact kura@maorilandfilm.co.nz

Passes are only available for purchase prior to the festival opening

$70

10 ticket package

Tīkiti Tākoha

Industry Pass

Tickets must be purchased at the same time in the same transaction

All Tīkiti Tākoha include access to all public events, including the red carpet party & a tax-deductible donation.

Choose your price - Tīkiti Tākoha starts at $175, including a $50 donation.

$200 pre-sale + guaranteed red carpet ticket (presales close March 10)

$275 general sales red carpet ticket subject to availability

Visit mff.maorilandfilm.co.nz/ industry to purchase

In-Person: Māoriland Hub, 68 Main Street Ōtaki, Monday - Saturday 11 am - 4 pm

Festival Week (20 - 24 March 2024) 9 am - 8:30 pm

Tīkiti Tākoha

If you love the Māoriland Film Festival, Tīkiti Tākoha is a way to enjoy everything while offering tangible support to Māoriland.

Tīkiti Tākoha begins at $175 and gives free access to all public events while including a charitable donation to the Māoriland Charitable Trust. All charitable donations are tax-deductible in New Zealand.

Ticket Refunds

Tickets to the MFF are priced as low as possible to ensure the festival is accessible to the community. The cost of your ticket is only a tiny contribution to the work done by the Māoriland team and the filmmakers to bring the MFF to life.

We cannot provide refunds for illness or a ‘change of mind’. All purchases are final. If you can no longer attend an event, we encourage you to gift your ticket to a friend. Kei moumou!

Te Huarahi MaiTravel Information

Māoriland is located in Ōtaki on the Kapiti Coast, 80 km from Wellington Airport.

Public transport

The train from Wellington to Ōtaki is a one-hour trip that offers stunning views along the Kāpiti Coast. Sit on the left-hand side of the train heading north for the best views out to Kāpiti Island.

The Capital Connection runs Monday-Friday, departing Wellington to Ōtaki daily at 5.15 pm. Stay overnight and return to Wellington at 7.13 am.

The Kapiti Line runs every half hour to and from Wellington. The service arrives and departs from Waikanae, 15 minutes south of Ōtaki.

There are also buses along the train route. Connecting from Waikanae, the 290 bus will bring you to Ōtaki. The bus leaves Waikanae for Ōtaki’s Main St five times daily. This bus returns to Waikanae.

Purchase a Snapper Card to tap on/tap off. Otherwise, public transport is cash only.

Intercity buses provide transport from Palmerston North and Wellington.

Check the timetable links below for more information. www.greatjourneysnz.com/capital-connection/ www.metlink.org.nz/timetables/train/KPL www.metlink.org.nz/timetables/bus/290 www.intercity.co.nz www.snapper.co.nz

ŌTAKI

WELLINGTON

2024 Venue Map

RAUKAWA

MĀORIL

MEMORIAL

RANGIĀTEA

Te Huanui O Mati

An exciting new space at Māoriland Film Festival is Te Huanui o Mati presented by MATCH - the Māoriland Tech Creative Hub. Utilising the entire space of the Memorial Hall, we step into a future where Indigenous peoples use new technologies to express old stories.

The Māoriland Tech Creative Hub is a training and creative space for rangatahi to upskill and unleash their creative potential using software and digital tools. Animation, graphic design, game development, VR, XR - MATCH. Free entry (as capacity allows).

Memorial Hall - Main Street, Ōtaki

Thursday 21 - Sunday 24 March

11:00 AM - 4:00 PM

NGĀ KARU O MATI

Atuatanga

VR | 2023 | 40 mins | Wiremu Grace | Aotearoa | Māori with subtitles

Atuatanga takes you deep into a Māori post-apocalypse world using VR technology in the Quest 2 headset. This is the future destruction of our earth if we don’t take action now.

TOMO VR

VR | 2022 | 15 mins | Gabrielle Thomas

| Kāi Tahu and Te Atiawa ki te Tau Ihu | English & Māori

TOMO VR captures the dream space with its haunting tale of life and death.

Hill Agency: PURITYdecay

GAME | 2023 | 180 mins | Meagan Irene

Byrne | Apihtawikosisân (fed: Métis Nation of Ontario), Néhiyaw | Cree, English

Murdered sisters, mind-altering drugs and flying cities in this Indigenous cyber noir detective narrative adventure set in a post-post-apocalyptic future.

Voyaging Home

GAME | 2023 | Pōhaikealoha Panoke | Kanaka Maoli

You're a voyager like your ancestors before you, but in order to move forward, you first need to discover where you (and your ancestors) are from.

Orange Pekoe

GAME | 2023 | 10 mins | Vanessa Racine

| Beaverhouse First Nation | English

The year is 2173, and after a long ride back to the city, you still need to fetch some tea for an Elder.

Words Before All Else

MICHINIMA | 2022 | 12 mins | Skawennati | Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) of Kahnawá:ke | English

In a multiplayer online world, this movie features Skawennati's avatar, XOX, reciting the 18 verses of the traditional Thanksgiving Address.

A Métis Toy Story

ANIMATION | 2023 | 2 mins | Samantha

Loney | Métis

A new Métis action figure must stop the battle between a Cowboy Teddy and an Indigenous wooden horse toy.

Chums

ANIMATION | 2023 | 11 mins |

Dennis Jackson | Peter Ballantyne

Cree Nation | English

A ragtag group of furry friends on Turtle Island are discovering their relationship with the animals and their environment on Mother Earth

Past Future Forward: The Making of a Hawaiian Video Game

DOCUMENTARY | 2022 | 51 mins | Prem Sooriyakumar, Prem Sooriyakumar | Kanaka Maoli/Sāmoan | English

Hawaiians in space! Past Future

Forward: The Making of a Hawaiian Videogame tells the story of a 2017 workshop with Kanaka Maoli youth making their first videogame, inspired by their community’s storytelling traditions to create a game about their descendants travelling to the stars.

Follow

ANIMATION | 2023 | 3 mins | Brent Owen Beauchamp | Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve | English

Nimkii follows a mysterious blue butterfly away from his mother, deep into the forest. Nimkii quickly realises the butterfly is not from our world.

Tala's Bedtime Story

ANIMATION | 2023 | 7 mins | Peter Filimaua | Sāmoa | English

To help Tala fall asleep, his mother tells him a tale about his grandfather and Pulotu, the underworld.

The Adventures With Auuvi & Friends

ANIMATION | 2023 | 3 mins |

Lisi Makimmak Etok | Ivujiik

|Without dialogue

The Bull of Cold

ANIMATION | 2023 | 9 mins | Alexander Moruo | Sakha (Yakut) | Yakutian with English subtitles

Experience an eventful day with Auuvi, the neurodivergent caterpillar who lives in a sensory-rich environment.

A little boy named Ayaal has a big dream of cutting ice figures. He is 9 years old, and everyone’s favourite in a small Sakha village

Allow Your Haerenga

EXPERIMENTAL | 2023 | 2 mins | Waiongana Fruean Weeks | Māori

Realise, reveal, revel, reflect and release. A brief haerenga through the many faces and stages of grief

Dau:añcut (Moving Along Image)

EXPERIMENTAL | 2023 | 16 mins

| Adam Piron | Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma | English

What happens when you lose control of an image?

Bálvvosbáiki - Place of worship

EXPERIMENTAL | 2023 | 7 mins | Marja Viitahuhta | Sámi

Do ancient beliefs still echo in these lands?

Edwards | Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke | Without dialogue

The tethering of animal, earthly and human energies through moments of connection, moving toward an uncertain future as the planet warms.

I Would Like To Be Midnight / I Would Like To Be Sky

EXPERIMENTAL | 2023 | 10 mins |

Amelia Winger-Bearskin | SenecaCayuga Nation of Oklahoma | English

The sky does not have borders. It moves and is part of an extensive system that includes the moon, the sun and the stars.

Ngahere - Forest

EXPERIMENTAL | 2021 | 6 mins | Kelly

Nash, Nancy Wijohn | Aotearoa |

Without dialogue

Dancer Nancy Wijohn is Tāne - trying to take the destruction of "Whiro" into her own hands, and while the moon falls back to the earth, the elements begin to destroy each other.

Nuppi Bealde

EXPERIMENTAL | 2023 | 5 mins |

Marja Viitahuhta, Ánnámáret | Sámi |

Without dialogue

Saivo is a lake with two bottoms where spirits dwell. This yoik film shows the growing and disappearing glaciers, the gaps and chasms, the depths of the water, and the surfacing ice.

Whispers of Reindeer Milk

EXPERIMENTAL | 2023 | 19 mins |

Mihkkal Robertabártni Hætta | Sápmi |

Without dialogue

In an alternate Sápmi, a man travels to reclaim ancestral wisdom from the colonisers, meditating through diverse northern landscapes.

The River

Kākano, Ngā Purapura | Thursday 21 - Sunday 24 March

11:00 AM - 8:00 PM

2023 | 104 mins | Piata Gardiner-Hoskins, Todd Karehana | Aotearoa | Māori & English

Three estranged cousins must reunite to solve the mystery of a young woman's disappearance, with all paths leading to a river that flows both ways - Waihara.

Ancestors' Gate

EXPERIENCE | 2023 | Steve Diabo |

First Nations

Indigenous nations have a shared experience of language loss, cultural near-extinction and later renaissance. Imagine sharing that experience as someone in your own family, someone in the Native community where you're from, or even as one of your ancestors.

Nemi

ANIMATION | 2021 | 8 mins |

Nicolás Zarco | Xochimilca | Spanish

Juana, an old lady, is reunited with her past in the Chinampas of an ancient Xochimilco.

Māoriland Keynote Address

Kia Tau Te Rongomau

5:30 PM, Wed 20 March | Rangiātea Church

The Māoriland Keynote address is a personal and historical perspective given by a prominent Māori filmmaker. Past keynote speakers were Tainui Stephens, Lawrence Makoare, Larry Parr, Julian and Mabelle Dennison, Rawiri Paratene, Heperi and Awatea Mita, Temuera Morrison, Rena Owen, Waihoroi Shortland and Libby Hakaraia.

Highly recognised Māori artists have responded to the theme of this year’s MFF Kia Tau Te Rongomau with captivating work in the Ōtaki township. The Māoriland Film Festival Arts Installation project is curated by Rachael Rākena, an Associate Professor and celebrated Kāi Tahu/Ngā Puhi video installation artist.

The installations feature the exceptional works of Regan Balzer (Te Arawa, Ngāti Ranginui), Tāme iti (Ngāi Tūhoe), Ngataiharuru Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Āti Awa), and Johnson Witehira (Tamahaki,

Regan Balzer

Rachael Rākena

Tāme Iti

Ngataiharuru Taepa

Johnson Witehira

SPECIAL EVENTS

OPENING NIGHT SCREENING - WORLD PREMIERE

The Reciprocity Project

Wednesday 20 March 2023 | 8:00 PM

Ngā Purapura

Facing the climate crisis, the Reciprocity Project embraces Indigenous value systems that have bolstered communities since the dawn of humanity.

To heal, we must recognise that we are in a relationship with Earth, a place that was in balance until the Industrial Age.

The second season of this project invites learning from timehonoured and current ways of being across seven Indigenous communities, including the mountainous Tayal homelands of Taiwan, the nightless nights and deep snows of Sámi Nation in Finland, and the forested Limba homelands in Sierra Leone.

The Season Two storytellers and community partners are creating projects in response to a question: “What does a return to land, language, practices, and reciprocal relationships mean to you and your community?”

Enchukunoto (The Return)

2024 | 15 mins | Laissa Malih | IL-Laikipiak Maasai | Maasai, Samburu, English with English subtitles

The first female Maasai filmmaker, Laissa Malih, returns to her ancestral lands in this deeply personal look at how one Maasai community is being reshaped by climate change.

Ma ŋaye ka Masaala a se ka Wɔmɛti From God To Man

2024 | 15 mins | Lansana Mansaray | Limba | Limba, Krio with English subtitles

Filmmaker Lansana Mansaray goes back to his ancestral village in this first-ever documentary about the Limba people of Sierra Leone.

Tahnaanooku

2024 | 7 mins | Justin Deegan | Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations | English, Arikara with English subtitles

Interweaving interviews, culturallyspecific music, and a traditional water ceremony to celebrate Darlene Deegan’s environmental activism and efforts to protect the land.

Áhkuin

2024 | 20 mins | Tuomas Kumpulainen, Sunná Nousuniemi | Sámi | Northern Sámi with English subtitles

Three generations of a Sámi family united across time via joik - a distinct Sámi oral tradition of song, storytelling and reciprocity.

Tentsitewahkwe

2024 | 17 mins | Katsitsionni Fox | Haudenosaunee | English, Kanienkéha with English subtitles

Following the flow of the seasons, Jessica Shenandoah revives the land-based traditions of our Mohawk ancestors that colonisers nearly erased from our memories.

Tayal Forest Club

2024 | 19 mins | Laha Mebow | Tayal | Atayal, Mandarin with English subtitles

In this coming-of-age tale from Taiwan’s first Indigenous female director, Tayal youth learn to navigate life’s challenges by paying attention to lessons the land offers.

Armea

2024 | 22 mins | Letila Mitchell | Rotuman | Rotuman with English subtitles

Diasporic Rotuman artists return to their ancestral island debut a theatrical work symbolising the history of the land and the threat of rising seas.

Free Whānau Outdoor Screening:

Red, White & Brass

7:30 PM, Sat 23 Mar | Haruatai Park

2023 | 85 mins | Damon Fepulea'i | Tonga | English

Maka, a Tongan superfan, will do whatever it takes to get tickets to the Tonga v France Rugby World Cup game - even if that means promising to deliver a brass band for the pre-match entertainment. The only problem is, the band doesn't exist, and Maka has four weeks to make one. Inspired by a true story. Rug up and bring your picnic blanket to Haruatai Park for this year's free whānau outdoor screening!

Closing Night Screening: Fry Bread Face & Me

6:30 PM, Sun 24 Mar | Ngā Purapura

2023 | 83 mins | Billy Luther | Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo | English

It’s 1990. Benny is a Native American boy growing up in San Diego who plays with dolls and listens to Fleetwood Mac. Everything Benny thinks he knows about himself and his family is turned upside down when his parents force him to spend the summer at his Grandma Lorraine’s sheep ranch on the reservation in Arizona. There, he meets his cousin Dawn— AKA Frybread Face, a pudgy 11-year-old vagabond and tough-as-nails tomboy. Benny has never met anyone like her, and he is equally intimidated and impressed by her knowledge of Navajo language and tradition. Together, Benny and Fry create a memorable summer.

Preceded by Ranginui & Papa-tū-ā-nuku

2023 | 2 mins | Nathaniel Oliver, Robert Hinde | Aotearoa | English

The moon sets as the sunrises, while a young girl narrates the story of Ranginui & Papa-tū-ā-nuku

Māoriland Red Carpet Party

8:00 PM | Sun 24 March | Māoriland Hub

Put on your most glam outfit for the annual Māoriland Red Carpet Party. A celebration of all the filmmakers at MFF2024 with awards and top entertainment.

The film voted as ‘the people’s choice for MFF2024’ will be given along with prizes for Red Carpet attendees in the following categories:

• Best Regalia

• Most Sequins & Best ‘Suit’

• Best outfit purchased from a local Op shop (must show sale receipt).

PROGRAMME

Whenua Shorts

Kaa Tangi Te Tuuii Kaa

Tangi Te Tuupuna

2023 | 2 mins | Waiongana Fruean Weeks | Puketapu Te Hapū, Paeroke Rawir | English & Māori

Everything has a song- are you listening? An audiovisual moment created to connect you with the waiata present all around us.

Gaag.iid

2023 | 13 mins | Kristi Lane Sinclair | Haida | English

The Gaag.iid is a story all Haida kids hear. Nearing death, separated from home and family, you may become Gaag.iid.

Stories about the land

10:00 AM | Thu 21 Mar | Civic Theatre

Last Shot at Messenger

2023 | 18 mins | Ethan AldersonHughes | Hapū o Poutama, Ngāti Tama | Māori & English

As the construction of a motorway bypass quickly approaches, a Taranaki farmer takes a final stand to protect the ancient wetlands that the proposed new road promises to destroy.

Kōkako

2022 | 13 mins | Douglas Brooks | Aotearoa | Māori & English with English subtitles

An aspiring ornithologist braves the New Zealand wilderness on a search for a bird thought to be extinct when she learns of her grandmother’s passing.

Mauri Tū Mauri Ora

2023 | 25 mins | Daniel Nathan | Te Roroa | English & Māori

Hokia ki te waoku kia purea ai - Return to the forest and be restored. A passionate Indigenous artist strives to re-awaken a deeper conversation with the natural world.

We Lived in Science

2023 | 10 mins | Jennifer Loren | Cherokee Nation | English

A journey of cosmic discovery with Cherokee culture keeper Thomas Belt.

Babanil

2023 | 7 mins | Marlikka Perdrisat | Australia | English

Filmmaker Marlikka Perdrisat creates a dreamlike expression of her intergenerational connection to Country and what connecting with Country could mean for all Australians.

In Exile

2023 | 11 mins | Nathan Fitch | Marshall Islands | English

A short film exploring the US nuclear legacy in the Pacific through the lens of members of the Marshallese community in Arkansas.

Ngurrawaana

2023 | 3 mins | Kieran Satour | Yindjibarndi | English

Wimiya Woodley takes us back to his homelands at Ngurrawaana, a place of rejuvenation and recovery for Yindjibarndi people to reconnect with their ancestors.

Tū Te Ihiihi

To be exhilarated. Young people explore their identity through creativity

12:30 PM | Thu 21 Mar | Civic Theatre

Marahoro

2023 | 16 mins | Sofía Rodríguez Pizero | Māori, Rapa Nui | Spanish with English subtitles

Marahoro, a 15-year-old Rapa Nui boy, finds in an ancient holler the strength to confront his father's harshness and pursue his calling from the voices of the sea.

Reclaim

2023 | 26 mins | Geeta Gandbhir | Hawai'i | English

Chubby Cree: PiMahCiHoWin

Two young brothers express their deep connection to their culture, language and land as they prepare for the Merrie Monarch Festival, the “Olympics of Hula.”

2023 | 44 mins | Jules A Koostachin | Cree, Attawapiskat | English

A young Cree boy inspires the world with powerful medicine in his voice.

Te Ahi Kōmau

To know of home. To understand who you are in relation to home.

3:00 PM | Thu 21 Mar | Civic Theatre

Tsi Tiotonhontsatáhsawe: Tsi Nihotirihò:ten ne Ratironhia’kehró:non

When the Earth Began: The Way of the Skydwellers

2022 | 33 mins | Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language And Cultural Center | Kanien’kehá:ka | Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) with English subtitles

The epic Haudenosaunee Creation Story is retold in Kanien’kéha (Mohawk), in which we learn the origins of Skywoman and the forces at play leading up to her fall to earth.

Rangwan (The conversation)

2020 | 17 mins | Mankap Nokwoham | Wancho tribe | English

The people of Ranglo, struggle to stay connected to the outside world during the pandemic without network connectivity.

ways of exercising restorative justice to decolonise ourselves and weave brotherhood.

Home

2022 | 17 mins | Barry Bilinsky | Kikino Métis Settlement | Cree & English

Disaster strikes Kikino during the annual baseball extravaganza, forcing those who can to bunker down.

Her Name Is Nanny Nellie

4:30 PM, Thu 21 Mar

2023 | 79 mins | Daniel King | Ngarigo, Yuin, Worimi | English

A trio of nameless statues in the archives of the Australian Museum trigger a granddaughter’s journey to rewrite how Aboriginal people are represented in Australia’s public history

Twice Colonised

6:00 PM, Thu 21 Mar Civic Theatre

2023 | 92 mins | Lin Alluna | Greenland | English, Danish, Greenlandic, Inuktitut with English subtitles

Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter has led a lifelong fight for the rights of her people. When her son suddenly dies, Aaju embarks on a journey to reclaim her language and culture after a lifetime of whitewashing and forced assimilation. But is it possible to change the world and mend your wounds at the same time?

The Mountain

7:30 PM, Thu 21 Mar | Ngā Purapura

2024 | 89 mins | Rachel House | Ngā Iwi O Taranaki | English

Sam, a fearless young girl raised outside of her Māori culture, is determined to fulfil her mission of connecting with her mountain in the hope they can heal her from the cancer she battles. Along the way, she meets some misfits and new kids in town – Mallory, hoping to find friends, any kind of friends - and Bronco, who claims to be a runaway from his dad, who is too busy to notice him. As they go through the difficult “off the beaten track” route, they learn the true spirit of adventure and the magic of friendship.

Eallogierdu - The Tundra Within Me

8:30 PM | Thu 21 Mar | Civic Theatre

2023 | 93 mins | Sara Margrethe Oskal | Sápmi | Sámi with English Subtitles

Korokī Korokā

Language is spoken and unspoken. It says many things about people and our environment.

Drumoh

2021 | 3 mins | Armando López Castañeda | Mexica, Purepecha | Drumohre with English subtitles

Drumohre is the language of the first who lived here. The more days go by, the less they speak it. Here, you no longer see anyone who understands it.

Telesia 2 The World

2023 | 20 mins | Telesia Ruth Solomon

Tanoai | Sāmoa | Mandarin & English with English subtitles

Telesia has been learning Chinese to advocate for her people on climate change issues in the Pacific.

9:30 AM | Fri 22 Mar Civic Theatre

Te Reo RangatiraGlenis Hiria-Barbara

2023 | 12 mins | Vanessa Patea | Aotearoa | Māori with subtitles

Te Reo Rangatira is a series that focuses on revitalising the Māori language. In this film we meet Glenis Hiria Barbara, who has learned her language with her whānau.

Lea Tupu’anga/ Mother Tongue

2024 | 17 mins | Vea Mafile’o, Luciane Buchanan | Tonga | Tongan & English

A young speech therapist disconnected from her Tongan heritage lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job. Out of her depth, she must find a way to communicate or risk her patient’s life.

Te Tini Ō Wai

Water sustains all life.

12:00 PM | Fri 22 Mar | Civic Theatre

Salmon Reflection

A'-t'i Xwee-ghayt-nishStill, We Live On

2023 | 41 mins | Dave Jannetta | Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation | English

With their language facing extinction, the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation in Northern California is working against time to save it.

River Bank (Po-Kehgeh)

2021 | 4 mins | Anna Hoover | Unangax | English

Salmon are the lifeblood of the communities they feed and support.

2023 | 13 mins | Charine Pilar Gonzales | San Ildefonso Pueblo | English

When a Tewa woman is mesmerised by a world of money, she must listen to the spirit of the River to free herself.

Kai Hali'a (Sea of Memory)

2023 | 8 mins | Angelique Kalani

Axelrode | Kānaka Maoli | English, ‘Ōlelo Hawaii

A diasporic Kānaka remembers how to connect back to themselves, their family, and their lover.

Gath & K'iyh: Listen to Heal

2023 | 8 mins |

Princess Daazhraii Johnson | Neet'saii Gwich'in | English

In Alaska, the community comes together to create music with Yo-Yo Ma as a critical part of collective healing and radical hope for the future.

Search for Hawaiki

2023 | 19 mins | Fredrick Pokai | Ngāti Porou and Te Arawa | English

While in recovery, Fable discovers an old tide chart and embarks on a journey to find inner peace by searching for his ancestral home of Hawaiki.

The Unlikely Voyage

2022 | 12 mins | Gemma ElbourneO’Rourke | Fijian | English

A young Fijian navigator, recounts his journey from troubled youth to captain and remembers those who showed him the way.

Yuri u xëatima thë - Fishing with Timbó

2023 | 10 mins | Aida Harika Yanomami, Edmar Tokorino Yanomami, Roseane

Yariana Yanomami | Yanomami | Yanomami with English subtitles

Two young Yanomami filmmakers describe the process of Indigenous fishing with timbó, a vine traditionally used to stun fish.

Mahika Kai

2023 | 10 mins | Kieran Ampetyane

Satour | Ngāi Tahu and Waitaha | Māori & English

A Kai Tahu family of cultural conservators and knowledge-holders are on a mission to regenerate and rehabilitate the landscape of Wanaka through traditional food gathering practices.

Aikāne

2023 | 14 mins | Daniel Sousa | Hawai'i, Kanaka Oiwi | Without dialogue

A valiant island warrior, wounded in battle against foreign invaders, falls into a mysterious underwater world.

Inky Pinky Ponky

2:30 PM | Fri 22 Mar | Civic Theatre

2023 | 61 mins | Damon Fepuleai, Ramon Te Wake | Aotearoa | Tongan & English with English subtitles

When a young fakaleiti (3rd Spirit) becomes entangled with the Rugby Captain at St Valentine’s High School, she must navigate a world of intolerance to find happiness - in an unexpected place. The melting pot becomes a pressure cooker when rugby players, Island mums, gender fluidity and teenage microaggressions all converge in this highly bent high school romance.

Kindred

5:45 PM | Fri 22 Mar | Civic Theatre

2023 | 92 mins | Gillian Moody, Adrian Russell Wills | Wodi Wodi and Wonnarua Nations | English

When Gill Moody and Adrian Wills met to make their first short film together, little did they know that twenty-one years later, they would be best friends relying on each other to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of being Aboriginal and adopted into white families. This story explores the importance of discovering your place in the world and realising that home and love can be found in the people and places your heart connects to.

The Beautiful Scars of Tom Wilson

6:00 PM | Fri 22 Mar | Ngā Purapura

2021 | 86 mins | Shane Belcourt | Mohawk, Métis | English

The Beautiful Scars of Tom Wilson tells the remarkable point-of-view story of a rock star who finally discovers his true identity after a lifetime of searching. From his mysterious upbringing and self-destructive music career to his quest to explore his true identity as a Mohawk man.

Hey Viktor!

8:30 PM | Fri 22 Mar | Ngā Purapura

2023 | 102 mins | Cody Lightning | Samson Cree Nation | English

Twenty years after finding childhood fame as Little Viktor in 1998’s Smoke Signals, Cody Lightning has been forced to move home to his reserve in northern Alberta. He still believes himself to be famous— even though the only parts he gets these days are porn and fracking commercials. But when Cody learns his wife and kids are leaving him for a younger, more successful actor, he decides it’s time to quit fucking around and make his masterpiece— writing, directing, & starring in SMOKE SIGNALS 2: STILL SMOKING. A documentary crew follows Cody on his journey around the Indigenous world— re-uniting the original cast, borrowing money from arms dealers, and realising his vision..

Kei Taumaha Noa

A time to explore the weight of dark places. For mature audiences.

18:30 PM | Fri 22 Mar | Civic Theatre

Property developer Quinn is forced to confront his fear of death and abandonment when a tohunga is brought into ‘ghost bust’ his new build.

Aykuo

2023 | 22 mins | Ayaal Adamov | Yakut | Yakutian with English subtitles

A young woman returns home to her remote Yakut village when her older sister dies.

Dry Hand

2022 | 8 mins | Isis Catrin | Mapuche | Spanish with English subtitles

In an inhospitable and barren place a figure with the ability to create life rises from the earth.

Big Eyed Pig's Last Memories

SAVJ

2023 | 6 mins | Mankap Nokwoham | Dehli | Ranglo with English subtitles

Amidst an apocalypse, a young man gradually succumbs to a longing for his homeland, leading to a distorted perspective that includes racism and the objectification of women.

2022 | 7 mins | Tank Standing Buffalo | Canada | English

Tank grapples with the memory of when his family was torn apart. Foraging for survival alone in a forest, the children fear a dangerous force. But what lurks in the darkness is true evil.

Awha

Redlights

2023 | 4 mins | Rewi McLay & Lukas Wharekura | Aotearoa | Māori

A girl searches for a power beyond this world to fight the flames that threaten te ao Māori.

2023 | 14 mins | Eva Thomas | Walpole Island First Nation, Tohono O'odham, Cherokee | English

An innocent evening out at a local bar takes a life and death turn for two Indigenous women.

Hurō! Ka Tika!

To find a joyful sense of self through art, music, and performance.

10:00 AM | Sat 23 Mar | Civic Theatre

Butterfly/Bataplai

2023 | 8 mins | Veialu Aila-Unsworth | Papua New Guinea | English

A Papua New Guinean American woman challenges her evangelist father's strict rules to find her voice as a makeup artist.

Tradewinds

2023 | 23 mins | Mighty Island | CHamoru | English

The life and legacy of CHamoru jazz pianist Patrick Palomo and his influence on a new generation of CHamoru jazz artists.

Kutcha's Koorioke - Birdz

2022 | 6 mins | John Harvey | Wurundjeri Country | English

Kutcha takes Birdz and Uncle Jack to meet up with Fred Leone at the Corroboree Tree in Burnley Park for a powerhouse performance of ARIA awardwinning song ‘Bagi-la-m Bargan’, a song from a young warrior’s perspective as he prepares to defend his country.

What's the Disabili-Tea: Misty Frequency

2022 | 8 mins | Justin Scott | Aotearoa | English

Drag performer Misty Frequency, shares their passion for representation and inclusion of their Te Ao Māori perspective while living with Autism, ADHD, and Dyslexia.

Janelle Niles: Inconvenient

2023 | 9 mins | Kelly Aija Zemnickis, Cass Gardiner | Anishinaabe, Algonquin and Mi'kmaq | English

Janelle Niles is a black, Mi’kmaw, twospirited woman from Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia and a stand-up comedian who uses stand-up to heal and usher in a new era of inclusive Canadian comedy.

Reckoning

2021 | 5 mins | Samuel Gaskin, Johnny Hamilton | Aotearoa & Te Whenua Moemoeā | Māori & English

RECKONING is about the power of embracing our ancestry through music intertwining Māori & Aboriginal culture.

Ancestral Threads

2023 | 12 mins | Sean Stiller | Secwépemc | English

Using fashion as medicine for Vancouver’s Indigenous community, founder Joleen Mitton takes us behind the scenes at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week.

The Alexander Ball

2022 | 30 mins | Jessica Magro | Sāmoa | English

Ella Ganza, and the Meanjin (Brisbane) ballroom scene prepare for one of the biggest ballroom events of the year: The Alexander Ball.

Hawaiki Tū!

Climate change and the power of the elements.

10:30 AM | Sat 23 Mar | Ngā Purapura

Vakaraitaka

2022 | 15 mins | Fenton Bose Lutunatabua | Fiji | English

The recent swells of climate activism in the Pacific are inherently linked with the deep connections of past and future generations.

Entropy

2023 | 10 mins | Inuk Jorgensen | Greenland | English & Kalaallisut with English subtitles

The Inuit have always thrived in proximity to the Arctic ice - what will happen now as the ice is disappearing will affect not just the Inuit communities in the far north, but everyone.

Kathmandu Monsoon

2022 | 18 mins | Ngima Gelu Sherpa | Sherpa | Nepali with English subtitles

An approaching storm causes a Kathmandu filmmaker to reflect on the realities of life through climate change.

Flower of Life

2023 | 5 mins | Ema I’u, Francis Baker | Sāmoa | English

On a planet collapsing under climate catastrophe, a spiritually gifted woman must unlock her ancestral knowledge to lead the remnants of humanity to salvation.

Te Huka O Te Tai

Ta'i

2023 | 13 mins | Keeti Ngatai-Melbourne | Ngāti Porou | English & Māori

A rural community fights to protect their whenua, moana and way of life.

We Are Warriors: Through The Fire

2023 | 8 mins | Corey "Nooky" Webster, Gabriel Gasparinatos, Kieran Satour | Yuin | English

Rapper, producer and radio host Nooky shares the Yuin story of the black cockatoo who sacrificed himself by flying through fire in order to help others.

2023 | 3 mins | Mii Taokia | Cook Islands | English

In a resource-drained dystopian future, a young Cook Islander hero challenges a corrupt scientist and oppressive world government to save his homeland and the planet.

Power to Country

2023 | 10 mins | Genevieve Grieves, Josef Jakamarra Egger | Yanyuwa and Garrwa | English

A portrait of life thrown into crisis by energy insecurity, Power to Country tells the story of Garrwa woman Shirley’s displacement from traditional homelands and her yearning to return.

Tuia Ngā Here

2023 | 12 mins | Heriata Erana Rurehe, Kura Kakerangi Turuwhenua | Aotearoa | Māori & English

When a young boy fears for his grandfather’s health, he looks to the land to find a cure.

Whānau Shorts

Family relationships.

12:30 PM | Sat 23 Mar | Civic Theatre

Hafekasi

2023 | 16 mins | Annelise Hickey | Tonga & Australia | English

Mona is a 10-year-old Tongan-Australian girl who begins to realise she's different from her single, white mum and family.

Our Grandmother The Inlet

2023 | 9 mins | Kayah George, Jaime Leigh (Demetra) Gianopoulos | TsleilWaututh Nation | English

How industry impacts the mental health of Indigenous youth and the spirit of gentle reclamation of love and connection to culture, water, and land as kin and relatives.

Kak: Intergenerational transmission of an ilnu family

2023 | 10 mins | Manuel Kak'wa Kurtness | Pekuakamiulnu Ilnu Innu | French with English subtitles

A story of intergenerational knowledge exchange within a Kak family.

Plaansh a Roo

2023 | 11 mins | Andrew Konoff | Métis | English

Jonny breaks his skateboard and figures he can busk with his mooshum's fiddle tunes to buy another. But is that what he really wants?

Mako

2023 | 16 mins | Mark Papalii | SāmoaNew Zealand | Sāmoan & English with English subtitles

17-year-old Mako has the mental age of a small child. When he realises his father is ashamed of him, he goes all out to make him proud, succeeding in the most unexpected way.

Tutemohutatanga

2023 | 12 mins | Vik Pahewa | Ngāti Tutemohuta, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui | Māori & English with English subtitles

Shared ideology within the hapu of Tutemohuta

Camping

2023 | 8 mins | Derek Quick | Ottawa tribe of Oklahoma | English

A single homeless mother and 7-yearold daughter living in their van, struggle to survive a troubled night working as a ride-share driver.

WaaPaKe

1:00 PM | Sat 23 Mar | Ngā Purapura

2023 | 80 mins | Jules Arita

Koostachin | Attawapiskat | English

For generations, the suffering of residential school Survivors has radiated outward, impacting

Warrior Strong

3:30 PM | Sat 23 Mar | Ngā Purapura

2023 | 98 mins | Shane Belcourt | Métis | English

When basketballer Bilal Irving is suspended from the pros, he has one play left to repair his image and save his career – returning home to coach his former high school team. Unfortunately, his old coach, Avery Schmidt, still holds the job and isn’t keen on sharing it. Reluctantly forced to “co-coach”, the two coaches must overcome their fractious past relationship and learn to work together to pull the bottom-rated WARRIORS into the championship – and maybe learn something about themselves along the way.

Bingo Shorts

Bring your pens!

5:00 PM | Sat 23 Mar | Civic Theatre

Hey Brainy Man

2022 | 11 mins | Jo Randerson & Loren Taylor | Aotearoa | English

Hey, Brainy Man is an avant-garde comedy about a group of evolutionary losers who have to warn Homo Sapiens not to fuck up the world.

Happy Thanksgiving

2023 | 8 mins | ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby | Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians | English

Daisy Does Lunch

2023 | 14 mins | Dana Leaming | Aotearoa | English

An unsuspecting Danni is lured to a so-called lunch with her social hockey teammates by Daisy. Agendas are raised, and tensions fly - but is Danni really ok?

A Native American man takes a Happy Thanksgiving wish from a bank teller so personally, his rage drives him to carry

2023 | 15 mins | Tuakoi Ohia, Tainui Tukiwaho | Māori | English

Tui’s vagina says she’s in the wrong relationship, but Tui’s not listening! Tui and Teke enter a musical mind/body debate on culture, identity and choice.

The New Boy

7:15 PM | Sat 23 Mar | Civic Theatre

2023 | 116 mins | Warwick Thornton | Kaytetye | English

Warwick Thornton's latest drama stars Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett as a renegade nun. Set in 1940s Australia, the film depicts the mesmeric story of a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by Sister Eileen (Blanchett). The new boy’s presence disturbs the delicately balanced world in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.

The Moogai

8:45 pm | Sat 23 Mar | Civic Theatre

2024 | 86 mins | Jon Bell | Wiradjuri, Bundjalung

A young Aboriginal couple bring home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn as the mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby.

Adapted from the award-winning short film of the same title (MFF2022), Jon Bell’s debut feature film melds Indigenous lore with allusions to Australia’s stolen generations in a thematically rich supernatural tale.

Whakapapa Shorts

Whakapapa and what is passed on between generations.

9:45 AM | Sun 24 Mar | Civic Theatre

Kūkini

2023 | 25 mins | Mitchel Merrick | Kingdom of Hawai'i

| Ōlelo Hawaii

In 1790 Hawaii, an elite warrior must leave his family behind when sent on a deadly mission to report on the bloody war waged by Kamehameha against Maui.

Sek Buy

2021 | 7 mins | William Cayapur Delgado | Nasa | Nasa Yuwe with English subtitles

Aurora, a young girl from the Nasa People of Southern Colombia, explores the meaning of SEK BUY, a ritual to the sun, which celebrates the beginning of the solar year.

Whakaaro Whakairo

2024 | 15 mins | Charlie Higgison | Ōtaki | English, Māori

Meet the artists and step inside the creative process behind Ōtaki’s 7th annual Whakaaro Whakairo ART Symposium.

Maunga Cassino

2022 | 16 mins | Paolo Rotondo | Aotearoa | Māori & Italian with English subtitles

A Māori warrior and an Italian deserter are trapped behind enemy lines without a common language. Amid the chaos of war, an unlikely friendship is forged as they cooperate to survive, but their rumbling stomachs threaten their fragile standoff.

Son of Sāmoa

2024 | 9 mins | Laman Time | Sāmoa | English

Through Tatau, Laman explores his disconnection from family and community while learning the importance of belonging and how to navigate that through cultural traditions.

Freedom Fighter

2023 | 17 mins | Tusi Tamasese | Sāmoa | English

There is no safe place to hide when the desire to dance calls Iuli’a, an overstayer, to choose between her freedom and the safety of those she is responsible for.

Wairua Shorts

Stories about what drives and moves your spirit.

10:30 AM | Sun 24 Mar | Ngā Purapura

Qulleq

2024 | 3 mins | Aka Hansen | Inuit | Without dialogue

Sit with Aka as she lights her Qulleq - a traditional oil lamp that made it possible for Greenlandic people to keep fire inside a house of snow.

To Be Silent

2022 | 9 mins | Tace Stevens | Noongar and Spinifex | English

Noongar and Spinifex Aboriginal woman Tace Stevens explores the impact of code-switching on her identity.

Monstr

2023 | 6 mins | Tank Standing Buffalo | Canada | English

How do you go on living when everything is taken from you in the blink of an eye?

Hounga'ia - Be Grateful

2023 | 4 mins | Mele Tupou | Tonga | Tongan with English subtitles

It takes a village to raise a child, let alone one living with a disability. Mele shows us how Haloti's village wraps around him in support.

Whirlflow

2023 | 5 mins | Kathleen Mantel | Aotearoa | English

A spoken word poetry piece that flows from darkness to light, signalling a breakthrough from the cycles that we find ourselves in.

Skádja

2022 | 17 mins | Eili Bråstad | Sápmi | Norwegian with English subtitles

Inspired by the power of nature, Skádja is a queer story from Sápmi about regaining freedom and autonomy.

Tūī

2021 | 18 mins | Awa Puna | Māori, Ngāti Kahungunu Ki Wairoa, Ngāi Tūhoe | Māori, English

As Tui struggles to process their grief, the forest calls them.

Metal Belt

2022 | 14 mins | Blackhorse Lowe | New Mexico | Navajo & Spanish with English subtitles

A Peyote Western set in 1860’s New Mexico territory and one Navajo woman's fight for freedom and her spiritual journey home.

Te Hā O Hinekaha

The mothership. Recommended for mature audiences.

9:45 AM | Sun 24 Mar | Civic Theatre

I Am Paradise

2023 | 18 mins | Hiona Henare | Ngāi Tara, Muaūpoko, Ngāti Huia, Ngāti Patukeha, Ngāiterangi | English

A young mum is forced to confront her troubled past when her children show signs of trauma.

istén:'a

2023 | 5 mins | KJ Edwards | Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke | English

A young woman recounts a visit from her late mother, looking to a dream space as a meeting place, where we can reconnect with our loved ones, who we are always tethered to.

Bajudh

2022 | 17 mins | Carlos Matienzo

Serment | Tének | Spanish with English subtitles

Bajudh, a young girl Tének struggles to become a flyer in the Dance of the Sparrowhawk facing a limitation: "Women don't fly."

Far From Ideal

2021 | 2 mins | Amber Beaton | Māori | English

A love letter to Indigenous women still feeling the effects of colonisation and forced religion.

Pe ataju jumali / Hot Air (Ar quente)

2023 | 25 mins | Unides contra a colonização: muitos olhos & um só coração | Colombia | Sikuani with English subtitles

The countries of the Global North are the biggest polluters on the planet. This film reveals this great farce and invites everyone to do environmental justice with their hands united in a great cosmic spiral. This film contains artistic footage of female genitalia. Viewer discretion is advised.

Nigiqtuq

2023 | 17 mins | Lindsay McIntyre | Inuit | Inuktitut & English

Having left Nunavut with her mother Kumaa’naaq (Koo-MAT-na) in 1938, young Marguerite must negotiate the unspoken pressures of being Inuk in her new life in the South. responsible for.

Tōia ki Tua

Portals into other worlds and imaginings.

2:30 PM | Sun 24 Mar | Civic Theatre

Do Digital Curanderas Use Eggs In Their Limpias?

2022 | 14 mins | Roberto Fatal | Mestize Chicana from Raramuri, Genizaro and Spain | English

A struggling Latinx healer considers abandoning the physical world for promises of a digital utopia.

Headdress

2022 | 10 mins | Taietsarón:sere 'Tai' Leclaire | Kanien’kehá:ka & Mi’kmaq | English

When a Queer Native Person at a music festival sees a Non-Native person wearing a ceremonial headdress, they retreat into their mind to find the perfect insult.

Katele (mudskipper)

2022 | 13 mins | John Harvey | Saibai Island, Torres Strait Islands | English

Martha works tirelessly in a laundromat, ready for the collection of her boss. When a mysterious visitor arrives, she is reminded of the life she has left behind.

Pasifika Drift

2023 | 12 mins | Alana Hicks, Natasha Henry | Papua New Guinea | English & Tok Pisin with English subtitles

When a young Papua New Guinean/ Australian man gets involved in a life of crime to provide for his pregnant girlfriend, a proud PNG woman challenges him to reconnect with his heritage.

Siva

Mai

2023 | 3 mins | Samson Rambo | Sāmoa and Aotearoa | Sāmoan & English

In 'Siva Mai,' love knows no boundaries as characters from diverse worlds collide in a bilingual celebration of universal connection, where languages clash and traditions harmonise.

Cloud Striker

2022 | 14 mins | A.W. Hopkins | Interior

A poetic and transformative journey of a young man’s physical, mental, and spiritual struggle to return to his son through the criminal justice system and the layers of colonisation it represents.

Syppyt Suruktar / Lost Letters

Salish and a member of N’Quatqua First Nation | English

Set in the 1930s, Chief Cloud Striker is on a quest to find his son Elijah, who has been forcibly taken from home and placed in Saint Ignatius Indian Residential School.

2024 | 11 mins | Kyhynngy Oyuur | Sakha | Yakutian with English subtitles

With a multitude of human-made catastrophic changes exhausting the world, this film asks us to reconsider human-nature relations from the perspective of collective beings whose lives are tied to the processes of nature.

Johnny Crow

Máhccan - Homecoming

1:00 PM | Sun 24 Mar | Ngā Purapura

2023 | 77 mins | Anssi Kömi, Suvi West | Sámi | Finnish & Sámi with English subtitles

Co-directors Suvi West and Anssi Kömi share a personal and insightful story about the return of Sámi artefacts — long held in a museum — to their homeland in this deep and profound documentary.

Sámi (and countless other Indigenous nations’) relics are housed in museums worldwide, many of which were seized or claimed over the centuries as curios for trade or as part of the aggressive Christianisation that demonised Sámi culture. In addition to everyday items such as clothing and tools, these collections include spiritually powerful drums and human remains.

West powerfully illustrates the emotional trauma experienced by the Sámi in their fight to get back their stolen ancestral heritage.

You Can Go Now

2:45 PM | Sun 24 Mar | Ngā Purapura

2022 | 82 mins | Larissa Behrendt | Eualeyai & Gamillaroi | English

First Nations artist Richard Bell proclaims himself to be an ‘activist masquerading as an artist.’ His contentious work and attitudes have stirred the Australian art world while being lauded internationally, taking him from a childhood in a rural Queensland shack to the lofty halls of the Tate Modern.

Schooled in the rough and tumble politics of Redfern and the Canberra Tent Embassy, his work challenges the institutions of colonisation in Australia and asserts the rights of First Nations people around the world.

Through this collaboration with Emory Douglas, a Black Panther known as the ‘Revolutionary Artist, Bell’s work links the fight for rights in Australia and the U.S. He has profoundly challenged the Australian art world with his scorching manifesto, Bell’s Theorem, which labelled the Aboriginal Art industry as ‘a white thing’ defined by colonial power structures that profit most from it.

While Australia contemplates voice, truth, and treaty, Bell’s ideas cannot be ignored.

Kei Hea Taku Whakaruruhau?

Stories about those who have been displaced and who strive to find home.

4:30 PM | Sun 24 Mar | Civic Theatre

A Winding Path

2023 | 10 mins | Ross Kauffman, Alexandra Lazarowich | Eastern Shoshone, Cree | English

Being an urban Indian is complicated because you have this geographic disconnection from your land and your community.

Manu comes from Aotearoa

2023 | 2 mins | Suzanne Kiri Tamaki | Aotearoa | English

Manu, the plastic Māori, is sharing her kōrero about Aotearoa.

The Sky Is Very Pretty

2022 | 17 mins | Aracely Méndez | Tseltal (Mayan People from Chiapas) | Spanish with English subtitles

Mothers and daughters flee their country of origin and pass through Mexico carrying their fears, dreams and a future of hope.

Last Home Renters

2023 | 16 mins | Vanessa Patea | Aotearoa | English

Rodney Patea is one of many pensioners who do not own a home. Surrounded by vacant houses, he struggles to find a long-term rental.

Rongphamu

2023 | 22 mins | Anusha Thulung Rai | Rai | Nepali, English

Annually, the Indigenous Rai community in the UK gather to celebrate their traditional festival: Sakela.

2022 | 4 mins | Hana Miller, Jacob Perkins | Kai Tahu | English

Ariana Tikao (Kai Tahu) waiata ‘Fly You Home’ explores friendship across distance and Indigenous solidarity.

KA 'Ā'UME'UME:

NAVIGATING HOME

2023 | 8 mins | M. Kaleipumehana Cabral | Hawaii | English

pî-kiwîk

2023 | 10 mins | Keisha Erwin | Nîhithaw, Woods Cree | Cree & English

Six Kanaka 'Oiwi weave a story of grief, hope, wisdom, and struggle in navigating diaspora and returning to their homeland.

A disconnected mixed Cree youth returns to their homelands and navigates building relationships with their family.

Gabriela

2023 | 16 mins | Evelyn Lorena | Mayan: Kaqchikel, Mam, K'iche' | English

A young undocumented Guatemalan woman questions her worth as she dreams of joining a Country Club swim team in the American South.

I Am From Palestine

2023 | 5 mins | Iman Zawahry | Palestine | English

As Saamidah, a young PalestinianAmerican girl, anxiously starts her first day of school, she finds her identity in question when faced with a world map that doesn't include her homeland.

NATIVE Minds

Tainui Stephens hosts NATIVE Minds - a series where Indigenous thinkers explore the experiences in their chosen endeavours, and the consequences of their native perspectives. Koha entry

Saturday 23 March | Māoriland Hub

The Enduring Voice Of Country | 10 am

After the brutal results of Australia's landmark Voice referendum last October, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island leaders responded with a vow of silence. They chose this form of protest after what had been an illconceived campaign marked by gross racism and partisan misinformation. With so much misinformation swirling around the world, how do we work more effectively together as informed Indigenous filmmakers?

The Native Mind knows that a voice suppressed is justice denied.

The Power In Our Songs | 11.30 am

Storytellers have turned their narratives into songs for hundreds of thousands of years. Indigenous songs that are written and performed in language offer an immediate connection to a full culture and history. Indigenous song explores beyond words to offer all the sounds within the domain of the human voice.

The Native Mind knows that when we sing, we sing stories of survival.

Te Ara Rongomau - Give Peace a Path | 1.30 pm

Political winds from the right are howling through our land, and the world. Uncivil, transgressive and self absorbed behaviour are wedges that unlock the worst behaviour between individuals and eventually between nations. There is a willingness to negate inconvenient expressions of indigenous endeavour and achievement. Yet the path to peace has never been more clear.

The Native Mind knows that peace is about balance.

Your Story Needs You | 3 pm

Anyone who works as a creative makes things up for a living. Their mind, heart, spirit, and body will be used in a wide variety of ways to bring their imaginations to life. Then they might get paid. To succeed as a creative also requires energy and discipline. You have to do the work. Everyone with a compulsion to create films, images, words, movement or sound will have a unique creative process.

The Native Mind knows to stay intuitive and curious.

Industry

Māoriland’s industry program is a space for those working in the screen industry to wānanga and network.

Industry passes give access to industry-only events and one ticket per screening.

• Panel Discussions

• Wānanga

• Networking

• Industry Receptions

Industry Pass Terms

• You need a physical ticket to enter any event. These can be claimed by showing your Industry Pass at The Māoriland Hub, 68 Main St Ōtaki.

• We recommend you select your tickets before the festival. Information on how to do this will be emailed to pass holders. If you choose not to use a ticket, please return it to the Ticket Office so someone else can enjoy the film.

• Your pass does not guarantee a ticket if sessions are sold out.

• Industry passes are not transferable.

• Lost passes cannot be reprinted.

• Closing Night Party. Due to limited numbers, you must RSVP to attend this party by Friday, 15 March, 6 pm to ensure your ticket.

Industry passes can be collected from the Manuwhiri desk at the Māoriland Hub, 68 Main St Ōtaki, from Tuesday, March 19, 2024. In case of cancellation, refunds will be made available.

In this scenario, please consider donating your booking fee ($1.50 per ticket) as this supports Māoriland to pay our friends at iTicket to process all ticket changes.

Māoriland Rangatahi Film Festival

Māoriland’s rangatahi leadership group - Ngā Pakiaka invite rangatahi to join them for two days of films selected by rangatahi for their peers. Limited tickets are available to select sessions for general audiences.

Māoriland’s rangatahi leadership group - Ngā Pakiaka invite rangatahi to join them for two days of films selected by rangatahi for their peers.

Limited tickets are available to select sessions for general audiences

Tuatahi: He Reo Waiata

E Tū Whānau Rangatahi Film Awards

9:30 AM

Celebrate the creativity of rangatahi at the 11th E Tu Whānau Rangatahi Film Awards!

Waiata Anthems is a movement instrumental in the massive groundswell of streaming and broadcasting waiata reo Māori. The power of waiata is transforming artists and audiences as our nation’s airwaves and digital music platforms resonate with the vibrant sound of new waiata and bilingual music.

COCO Reo Māori

1:10 PM

Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colourful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Héctor, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

Reversioned in te reo Maori by Matewa Media in association with Pixar Animation Studios.

Tuarua: Nōku Te Ao

He ao hou tenei, he ao e pae tata ana.

Home, Land & Sea Rangatahi Shorts

discover that their native homeland of Hawai'i is changing before their eyes.

Te Huka O Te Tai

2023 | 13 mins | Keeti Ngatai Melbourne | Ngāti Porou, Tūhoe| English

A rural community fights to protect their whenua, moana and way of life.

Home

2022 | 17 mins | Barry Bilinsky | Kikino Métis Settlement | Cree & English

Disaster strikes Kikino during the annual baseball extravaganza, forcing those who can to bunker down.

June Grant and the Dreamgirls Art Collective honour Te Arawa leader and Te Whakarewarewa guide Mākereti Papakura by painting a 24ft 7 story mural in the heart of the Rotorua CBD.

Mahika Kai

2023 | 10 mins | Kieran Ampetyane Satour | Ngāi Tahu and Waitaha | Māori & English

A Kai Tahu family are on a mission to regenerate and rehabilitate the landscape of Wanaka.

Tuia Ngā Here

2023 | 12 mins | Heriata Erana Rurehe & Kura Kakerangi Turuwhenua | Aotearoa | Māori & English with English subtitles

When a young boy fears for his grandfather’s health, he looks to the land to find a cure.

Te Ārai Rangatahi Shorts

9:15 AM

Repeat

2023 | 9 mins | Tu Maia Curtis | Aotearoa | Māori & English

“I didn’t know you were leaving”. “I didn’t know that you cared.” Two exbest friends are caught in a standoff and realise it’s time to mend their friendship or say goodbye…

Hafekasi

2023 | 16 mins | Annelise Hickey | Tonga & Australia | English

Mona is a 10-year-old who realises she's different from her single, white mum and family.

Whistling Woods

2022 | 11 mins | Barry Bilinsky | Kikino Métis Settlement | English & Cree

They were told never to whistle into the dark woods in case of luring the dark spirits within. But that was just a story… or is there truth to those terrifying tales?

Mackosiwin (Resilience)

2023 | 5 mins | Katherine Nequado | Atikamekw of Manawan | Other with English subtitles

A young woman struggles to live her day-to-day life as a strange sound increasingly creeps inside her head.

Crescendo

2023 | 5 mins | Keilani Fifita-Lamb | Tonga | Tongan & English

A young Tongan boy battling cancer composes his final music piece.

Uproar

2023 | 110 mins | Hamish Bennett & Paul Middleditch | Māori | English

17-year-old Josh (Julian Dennison) is forced off the fence he has actively sat on his entire life, to find his voice – and to stand up for himself, his whānau (family) and his future.

Set in Dunedin in 1981, a rugby-obsessed country is divided over the arrival of the South African Springboks team, sparking nationwide protests. Under pressure from home and school to conform, Josh, who has never felt like he fits in anywhere, is inspired by the protests to find his voice. A sequence of events sees Josh embrace his community and follow his heart to his whakapapa (Māori heritage), which brings him and his whānau on a journey towards healing. This screening will be followed by a Q&A.

Index

KIRIATA - FEATURE FILMS

Aotearoa

Inky Pinky Ponky 2023, Dir. Damon Fepuleai / Ramon TeWake 42

Red, White & Brass 2023, Dir. Damon Fepulea'i 28

The Mountain 2024, Dir. Rachel House 36

Uproar

2023, Dir. Hamish Bennett / Paul Middleditch 73

Coco Reo Maori 2023, Dir. 71

Australia

The Moogai

2024, Dir. Jon Bell 55

The New Boy

2023, Dir. Warwick Thornton 55

Canada

Hey Viktor!

2023, Dir. Cody Lightning 44

Warrior Strong 2023, Dir. Shane Belcourt 53

Sápmi

Eallogierdu - The Tundra Within Me 2023, Dir. Sara Margrethe Oskal 37

United States

Fry Bread Face & Me

2023, Dir. Billy Luther 29

KIRIATA POTOSHORT FILMS

Aotearoa

Chatterbox

2023, Dir. Tainui Tukiwaho 54

Crescendo ( a film by Keilani Fifita-Lamb)

2023, Dir. Keilani FifitaLamb 73

Daisy Does Lunch

2023, Dir. Dana

Leaming 54

Freedom Fighter

2023, Dir. Tusi

Tamasese 57

Hey Brainy Man

2022, Dir. Jo Randerson / Loren Taylor 54

Hounga'ia - Be Grateful

2023, Dir. Mele Tupou 58

I Am Paradise

2023, Dir. Hiona Henare 60

Kōkako

2022, Dir. Douglas Brooks 31

Last Home Renters

2023, Dir. Vanessa Patea 67

Last Shot at Messenger

2023, Dir. Ethan Alderson-Hughes 31

Lea Tupu'anga / Mother Tongue

2024, Dir. Vea Mafile'o 38

Maggie

2023, Dir. Cian Elyse White 72

Mako

2023, Dir. mark papali 52

Manu comes from Aotearoa

2023, Dir. Suzanne Kiri Tamaki 66

Māori Time

2023, Dir. Tim Worrall 45

Maunga Cassino

2022, Dir. Paolo Rotondo 57

Mauri Tū Mauri Ora

2023, Dir. Daniel Nathan 32

Ranginui & Papa-tua-nuku

2023, Dir. Nathaniel Hinde 29

Repeat

2023, Dir. Tu Maia Curtis 73

Search for Hawaiki

2023, Dir. Fredrick Pokai 40

Son of Sāmoa

2024, Dir. Laman Time 57

Te Huka O Te Tai

2023, Dir. Keeti NgataiMelbourne 50, 72

Te Reo RangatiraGlenis Hiria-Barbara 2023, Dir. Vanessa Patea 38

Telesia 2 the world

2023, Dir. Telesia Ruth Solomon Tanoai 38

The Unlikely Voyage

2022, Dir. Gemma Elbourne-O’Rourke 40

TŪĪ

2021, Dir. Awa Puna 59

Tuia Ngā Here

2023, Dir. Heriata Erana Rurehe / Kura Kakerangi Turuwhenua 50, 72

Tutemohutatanga

2023, Dir. Vik Pahewa

52

Waiata AnthemsBleeders

2023, Dir. Julia Parnell

71

Waiata AnthemsChad Chambers

2023, Dir. Jason Taylor

71

Waiata AnthemsGENEVA AM

2023, Dir. Keely Meechan 71

Waiata Anthems - IA Music

2023, Dir. Te Kuru Dewes 71

Waiata AnthemsNikau Grace

2023, Dir. Parehuia Mackay 71

Waiata AnthemsSwizl Jager

2023, Dir. Luke Penney

71

Waiata Anthems - TINI

WHETU

2023, Dir. Taine Noble

71

Whakaaro Whakairo

2024, Dir. Charlie Higgison 56

What's the DisabiliTea: Misty Frequency

2022, Dir. Justin Scott 47

Whirlflow

2023, Dir. Kathleen Mantel 59

Australia

Babanil

2023, Dir. Marlikka Perdrisat 32

Hafekasi

2023, Dir. Annelise Hickey 51, 73

Katele (mudskipper)

2022, Dir. John Harvey 62

Kutcha's KooriokeBirdz

2022, Dir. John Harvey 47

Mahika Kai

2023, Dir. Kieran Ampetyane Satour 41, 72

Ngurrawaana

2023, Dir. Kieran Satour 32

Pasifika Drift

2023, Dir. Alana Hicks 62

Power to Country

2023, Dir. Genevieve Grieves / Josef Jakamarra Egger 50

The Alexander Ball

2022, Dir. Jessica Magro 48

To Be Silent

2022, Dir. Tace Stevens 58

We Are Warriors: Through The Fire 2023, Dir. Corey "Nooky" Webster / Gabriel Gasparinatos / Kieran Satour 50

Brazil

Pe ataju jumali / Hot Air (Ar quente)

2023, Dir. Unides contra a colonização: muitos olhos / um só coração 61

Yuri u xëatima thë

2023, Dir. Aida Harika Yanomami / Edmar Tokorino Yanomami / Roseane Yariana Yanomami 41

Canada

Ancestral Threads

2023, Dir. Sean Stiller 48

Chubby Cree:

PiMahCiHoWin

2023, Dir. Jules A Koostachin 33

Cloud Striker

2022, Dir. A.W. Hopkins 63

Gaag.iid

2023, Dir. Kristi Sinclair 31

Home

2022, Dir. Barry Bilinsky 35, 72

istén:'a

2023, Dir. KJ Edwards 60

Janelle Niles:

Inconvenient

2023, Dir. Kelly Aija Zemnickis / Cass Gardiner 48

Johnny Crow

2021, Dir. Xstine Cook / Jesse Gouchey 63

Kak: Intergenerational transmission of an ilnu family

2023, Dir. Manuel Kak'wa Kurtness 51

Mackosiwin (Resilience) 2023, Dir. Katherine Nequado 73

Monstr

2023, Dir. Tank Standing Buffalo 58

Nigiqtuq

2023, Dir. Lindsay McIntyre 61

Our Grandmother The Inlet 2023, Dir. Kayah George / Jaime Leigh (Demetra) Gianopoulos 51

pî-kiwîk

2023, Dir. Keisha Erwin 68

Plaansh a Roo

2023, Dir. Andrew Konoff 52

Redlights

2023, Dir. Eva Thomas 46

SAVJ

2022, Dir. Tank Standing Buffalo 46

Tsi

Tiotonhontsatáhsawe: Tsi Nihotirihò:ten ne Ratironhia’kehró:non 2022, Dir. Kanien’kehá:ka

Onkwawén:na

Raotitióhkwa

Language And Cultural Center 34

Whistling Woods

2022, Dir. Barry Bilinsky 75

Words Before All Else

2022, Dir. Skawennati 19

Chile

Dry Hand

2022, Dir. Isis Catrin 45

Marahoro

2023, Dir. Sofía Rodríguez Pizero 33

Colombia

Sek Buy

2021, Dir. William Cayapur Delgado 56

Yuçejeka, The Remedie

2023, Dir. Yaid Bolaños 34

Cook Islands

Ta'i

2023, Dir. Mii Taokia 50

Fiji

Armea

2024, Dir. Letila Mitchell 26

Vakaraitaka

2022, Fenton Bose Lutunatabua 49

Finland

Áhkuin

2024, Dir. RadioJusSunná Sunná

Nousuniemi / Guhtur

Niillas Rita Duomis

Tuomas Kumpulainen 26

Greenland

Entropy

2023, Dir. Inuk Jorgensen 49

Qulleq

2024, Dir. Aka Hansen 58

India

Big Eyed Pig's Last Memories

2023, Dir. Mankap Nokwoham 46

Rangwan (The conversation)

2020, Dir. Mankap Nokwoham 34

Kazakhstan

The Bull of Cold 2023, Dir. Alexander Moruo 21

Kenya

Enchukunoto (The Return)

2024, Dir. Laissa Malih 27

Marshall Islands

In Exile

2023, Dir. Nathan Fitch 32

Mexico

Bajudh

2022, Dir. Carlos Matienzo Serment 60

Drumoh

2021, Dir. Armando López Castañeda 28

The Sky Is Very Pretty 2022, Dir. Aracely Méndez 66

Nepal

Kathmandu Monsoon

2022, Dir. Ngima Gelu Sherpa 49

Rongphamu

2023, Dir. Anusha Thulung Rai 67

Netherlands

Syppyt Suruktar / Lost Letters

2024, Dir. Kyhynngy Oyuur 63

Palestine

I Am From Palestine

2023, Dir. Iman

Zawahry 68

Sápmi

Skádja

2022, Dir. Eili Bråstad 59

Sierra Leone

Ma ŋaye ka Masaala a se ka W'm'i

2024, Dir. Lansana Mansaray 27

Taiwan

Tayal Forest Club

2024, Dir. Laha Mebow 26

United States

'A'-t'i Xwee-ghayt-nish

2023, Dir. Dave Jannetta 39

A Winding Path

2023, Dir. Ross

Kauffman / Alexandra Lazarowich 66

Aikane

2023, Dir. Daniel Sousa 41

Butterfly/Bataplai

2023, Dir. Veialu AilaUnsworth 47

Camping

2023, Dir. Derek Quick 52

Do Digital Curanderas Use Eggs In Their Limpias?

2022, Dir. Roberto Fatal 62

Gabriela

2023, Dir. Evelyn Lorena 68

Gath & K'iyh: Listen to Heal

2024, Dir. Princess

Daazhraii Johnson 40

Happy Thanksgiving

2023, Dir. ishkwaazhe

Shane McSauby 54

Headdress

2022, Dir. Taietsarón:sere 'Tai' Leclaire 62

Ka Huli

2024, Dir. Mainei

Kinimaka 72

Ka 'Ā'ume'ume:

Navigating Home

2023, Dir. M.

Kaleipumehana Cabral 68

Kai Hali'a

2023, Dir. Angelique

Kalani Axelrode 39

Kūkini

2023, Dir. Mitchel

Merrick 56

Metal Belt

2022, Dir. Blackhorse

Lowe 59

Reclaim

2023, Dir. Geeta Gandbhir 33

River Bank (Po-Kehgeh)

2023, Dir. Charine Pilar

Gonzales 39

Salmon Reflection 2021, Dir. Anna Hoover 39

Tahnaanooku

2024, Dir. Justin Deegan 26

Tentsitewahkwe

2024, Dir. Katsitsionni Fox 26

Tradewinds

2023, Dir. Mighty Island 47

We Lived in Science

2023, Dir. Jennifer Loren 32

Yakut

Aykuo

2023, Dir. Ayaal Adamov 45

PUORO ATAATAMUSIC VIDEOS

Aotearoa

Awha

2023, Dir. Rewi McLay / Lukas Wharekura 46

Far From Ideal

2021, Dir. Amber Beaton 61

Flower of Life

2023, Dir. Francis Baker 49

Fly You Home

2022, Dir. Hana Miller / Jacob Perkins 67

Hīnaki

2023, Dir. Swizl Jager 71

Hineraukatauri

2023, Dir. Jonathan Hislop 36

Kaa Tangi Te Tuuii Kaa

Tangi Te Tuupuna 2023, Dir. waiongana fruean weeks 31

Siva Mai

2023, Dir. Samson Rambo 63

Australia

Reckoning

2021, Dir. Samuel Gaskin / Johnny Hamilton 48

PAKIPŪMEKADOCUMENTARIES

Australia

Her Name Is Nanny Nellie

2023, Dir. Daniel King 35

Kindred

2023, Dir. Gillian Moody / Adrian Russell Wills 43

You Can Go Now

2022, Dir. Larissa Behrendt 65

Canada

Past Future Forward:

The Making of a Hawaiian Video Game 2022, Dir. Jason Edward Lewis / Prem Sooriyakumar 20

The Beautiful Scars of Tom Wilson 2021, Dir. Shane Belcourt 44

WaaPaKe (Tomorrow) 2023, Dir. Jules Arita Koostachin 53

Greenland

Twice Colonised 2023, Dir. Lin Alluna 35

Sápmi

MáhccanHomecoming

2023, Dir. Anssi Kömi / Suvi West 64

M.A.T.C.H

Aotearoa

Allow Your Haerenga

2023, Dir. Waiongana Fruean Weeks 22

Atuatanga

2023, Dir. Wiremu Grace 18

Ngāhere

2021, Dir. Kelly Nash / Nancy Wijohn 23

The River

2023, Dir. Piata

Gardiner-Hoskins / Todd Karehana 24

Tomo VR

2022, Dir. Gabrielle Thomas 18

Canada

A Métis Toy Story

2023, Dir. Samantha Loney 20

Ancestors' Gate

2023, Dir. Steve Diabo 24

Chums

2023, Dir. Dennis Jackson 20

Follow

2023, Dir. Brent Owen Beauchamp 21

Future Ready: Cusp 2023, Dir. KJ Edwards 22

Hill Agency: PURITYdecay 2023, Dir. Meagan Irene Byrne 19

Orange Pekoe

2023, Dir. Vanessa Racine 19

Past Future Forward:

The Making of a Hawaiian Video Game 2022, Dir. Jason Edward Lewis / Prem Sooriyakumar 20

The Adventures With Auuvi & Friends 2023, Dir. Lisi Makimmak Etok 21

Words Before All Else 2022, Dir. Skawennati 19

Kazakhstan

The Bull of Cold 2023, Dir. Alexander Moruo 21

Mexico

Nemi

2021, Dir. Nicolás Zarco 24

Sápmi

Whispers of Reindeer Milk

2023, Dir. Mihkkal Robertabártni Hætta 23

Bálvvosbáiki

2023, Dir. Marja

Viitahuhta 22

Nuppi bealde

2023, Dir. Marja

Viitahuhta 23

United States

Dau:añcut (Moving Along Image)

2023, Dir. Adam Piron 22

I Would Like To Be Midnight / I Would Like To Be Sky

2023, Dir. Amelia Winger-Bearskin 23

Tala's Bedtime Story

2023, Dir. Peter Filimaua 21

Voyaging Home

2023, Dir. Pohaikealoha Panoke 19

Māoriland Film Festival 2024

RĀHOROI 23 POUTŪ TE RANGI

10:00 AM NATIVE MindsThe Enduring Voice of Country

11:30 AM NATIVE MindsThe Power In Our Songs

1:30 PM NATIVE MindsGive Peace a Path

3:00 PM NATIVE MindsYour Story Needs You

RĀTAPU 24 POUTŪ TE RANGI

8:00 PM Māoriland Red Carpet Party R18

7:30 PM Free

Whānau Outdoor

Screening: Red, White & Brass

10:00 AM Whenua Shorts

12:30 PM Tū Te Ihiihi Shorts

3:00 PM Te Ahi Kōmau Shorts

6:00 PM Twice Colonised (Greenland)

8:30 PM EallogierduThe Tundra Within Me (Sámi)

9:30 AM Korokī Koroka Shorts

12:00 PM Te Tini O Wai Shorts

2:30 PM Inky Pinky Ponky (Aotearoa)

5:45 PM Kindred (Australia)

8:30 PM Kei Taumaha Noa Shorts (M)

10:00 AM Hūro! Ka Tika! Shorts

12:30 PM Whānau Shorts

5:00 PM Bingo Shorts

7:15 PM The New Boy (Australia) (M)

8:45 PM The Moogai (Australia) (M)

9:45 AM Whakapapa Shorts

12:00 PM Te Hā O Hinekaha Shorts (M)

2:15 PM Tō Ki Tua Shorts

4:30 PM Kei Hea Taku Whakaruruhau? Shorts

NGA PURAPURA

8:00 PM WORLD PREMIERE

Opening Night Screening: The Reciprocity Project

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Māoriland

Rangatahi Film Festival - He Reo Waiata

• E Tū Whānau Rangatahi Film Awards

• Waiata Anthems

• Coco Reo Māori

4:30 PM Her Name Is Nanny Nellie (Australia)

7:30 PM The Mountain (Aotearoa)

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Māoriland

Rangatahi Film Festival - Nōku Te Ao

• Home, Land and Sea - Rangatahi Shorts

• Te Ārai - Rangatahi Shorts

• Uproar

6:00 PM The Beautiful Scars of Tom Wilson (Canada)

8:30 PM Hey Viktor! (Canada) (M)

10:30 AM Hawaiki Tū! Shorts

1:00 PM Waapake (Canada)

3:30 PM Warrior Strong (Canada)

10:30 AM Wairua Shorts

1:00 PM Máhccan - Homecoming (Sámi)

2:45 PM You Can Go Now (Australia)

6:30 PM Closing Night: Frybread Face & Me (USA) (PG)

Tāria taku moko Māori

ki ngā kiriata o te wā

Embed my Native Soul in Film

This programme is dedicated to all our dear friends and partners in the Native Film Circle with much aroha for a bountiful year of Indigenous storytelling.

To all of you who have travelled from near and far, thank you for coming to Ōtaki and for sharing the love we all have for a good story, a remarkable film, and each other. We hope your time at Māoriland is enjoyable, and that what you have seen and experienced will expand you in wonderful ways.

Māoriland is a registered charitable trust. To support Māoriland contact us on kiaora@maorilandfilm.co.nz

Māoriland is committed to reducing our impact on our environment. Please look after this programme as copies are limited. You can find the programme online at mff.maorilandfilm.co.nz

For more information about our year-round events, visit us online at www.maorilandfilm.co.nz