84 minutes
Screened as part of NZIFF 2014
Ngā Whanaunga 2014
A collection of Māori and Pasifika short films curated by Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka), Director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, with guest curator Craig Fasi (Niue), Director of the Pollywood Film Festival. This year’s expression of ‘Ngā Whanaunga’, which means relatedness and connectedness between peoples, is once again realised with films from Aotearoa and the Pacific – stunning works made by big screen storytellers at the cutting edge. Curators’ comments on each film appear in italics.
In The Rubbish Tin 2014
Abandoned on her birthday, Pippa escapes into an imaginary world with her best friend Chubby.
A well told story with a sharp pace enforces the significance of the epidemic of neglect. — Craig Fasi
Footsteps 2014
A father’s sacrifice, a young boy’s promise. The colours and hues of a Pacific Island shine through in this fable of fatherly love. — Leo Koziol
Pūmanawa: The Gift 2013
A mother shares her own tragic past to stop her daughter repeating the same mistake. A dramatic and haunting depiction of Māori spiritualism. — Craig Fasi
Tohunga 2013
When a young boy falls ill, a family turns to a tohunga for help. Unknowingly, a young girl bears witness to a world never meant for her. Meditative moments of painterly imagery disguise a serious message. — Leo Koziol
Ahi Kā 2014
Left alone with just her spiritual guides, a young girl upholds the prestige of the tribe in order to protect the land for generations to come. Due to her brave deeds she is immortalised. A meditative exploration of kaitiakitanga (protectiveness); as the people protect the land, so the land – and the birds upon it – are kaitiaki of the people. — Leo Koziol
Rising Dust 2014
A hip-hop dance drama taken out of the city streets and into the historical, isolated, rural land of the Hokianga. With the help of his ancestors, a teenager on the cusp of adulthood stands up to his father and defends his place in his home. The Hokianga landscape shimmers as a dusty hip-hop epic explodes all around. — Leo Koziol
INC'd 2014
A Māori man enjoying the corporate life he has carved for himself in Sydney returns home for his father’s funeral. Amidst the mourning, a challenge is laid before him. Māori walk in many worlds, but must we compromise tradition to modern commerce? — Leo Koziol