Maori TV July 25 to 31

Maori Television

Monday July 25 to Sunday July 31

Tena koe

In addition to the featured Maori language programming screening on Maori Television for Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori, or Maori Language Week, please find attached additional programming highlights for the week of Monday July 25 to Sunday July 31.

These include:

THE COOLBAROO CLUB

Tuesday July 26 at 8.30 PM

The story of a 1950s dance club that became a political force in post-war Perth comes to Maori Television. The only Aboriginal-run dance club in a city which practiced unofficial apartheid, The Coolbaroo Club inspired the film through stories from friends and relatives of co-producer Steve Kinnane who remember those heady days.

FRONTIER - PREMIERE

Tuesday July 26 at 9.30 PM

A groundbreaking-three part historical series that examines the truth behind Australia's 150-year land war premieres on Maori Television. The Governors, the settlers, the Aboriginal leaders, the soldiers and the ordinary men and women who were caught up in these extraordinary and powerful events are all given a voice in this Australian Broadcasting Corporation-produced series.

CORPORATE WARRIORS - PREMIERE

Friday July 29 at 8.30 PM

Maui Productions - the Rotorua-based production company that brought Maori Television Kai Time on the Road - launches the hard case Waikato-based brothers Ora and Kiki Kihi on the series premiere of Corporate Warriors. An entertainment show with a kaupapa, Corporate Warriors sees the brothers turn their worlds upside down each week by taking on new jobs. From keeping the streets safe as a Maori warden to entertaining the troops at the circus, be prepared for mayhem as they give anything and everything a go!

THE SILENT ONE

Sunday July 31 at 9.00 PM

The 1984 award-winning New Zealand feature screens on Sunday July 31. Directed by Yvonne Mackay, produced by Dave Gibson and written by Ian Mune, the film was shot in the lush surrounds of the Cook Islands and captures the story of a boy's friendship with a magical turtle.

ENDS

THE DANCE CLUB THAT BRIDGED DIVISIONS SCREENS ON MAORI TELEVISION

The story of a 1950s dance club that became a political force comes to Maori Television in THE COOLBAROO CLUB this Tuesday July 26 at 8.30 PM.

In the city of Perth, the post-war period from 1946 to 1964 saw the Coolbaroo Club rise to become an important meeting place and a community focus for the local Aboriginal community. The only Aboriginal-run dance club in a city which practiced unofficial apartheid, it attracted Black musicians and celebrities from all over Australia and occasionally some from overseas – Nat ‘King’ Cole, Harold Blair and the Harlem Globetrotters included.

THE COOLBAROO CLUB was produced in collaboration with Ronin Films and Aboriginal co-author and co-producer Steve Kinnane, who developed the film through stories from friends and relatives that remember those heady days.

Although best remembered for the hugely popular Coolbaroo dances attended by hundreds of Aborigines, the club’s members banded together to create the New Coolbaroo League in 1952. The League then initiated a section called Coolbaroo News in the newspaper published by Progress of Western Australia, thus becoming an effective political organisation and a voice on issues of the day affecting Aboriginal people.

Through the story of the club and its members, the film lifts the lid on post-war race relations in Australia. With minor variations, their experiences were common to Aboriginal people throughout Australia in the 1940s and 1950s.

“The exceptional achievement of the Coolbaroo League in finding an affirmative response to white oppression can be seen today as an important step forward in the development of Aboriginal self-determination,” says director Roger Scholes.

THE COOLBAROO CLUB screens on Maori Television this Tuesday July 26 at 8.30 PM.

FRONTIER: WHITE AUSTRALIA’S FORGOTTEN WAR

A groundbreaking three-part series launching on Maori Television this Tuesday July 26 at 9.30 PM uncovers the truth behind the historical events of Australia’s 150-year land war.

FRONTIER is produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and tells the dramatic story of the war for Australian land between 1788 and 1938 through original accounts from both sides of the frontier.

The Governors, the settlers, the Aboriginal leaders, the soldiers and the ordinary men and women who were caught up in these extraordinary and powerful events are all given a voice in the series that documents the history of colonial invasion and indigenous resistance.

Episode one – They Must Always Consider Us As Enemies – unearths the doubts the earliest European arrivals had about the justice of their treatment of indigenous people. From the Sydney area resistance led by Bidjigal freedom fighter Pemulwuy to the use of deadly force to quell an uprising, the episode demonstrates that white incursions into Aboriginal lands and the resultant resistance were happening in the same ways for the same reasons, up and down the country.

Episode two – Worse than Slavery Itself – considers the influence of humanitarians and missionaries in the struggle and the concluding episode in the series, The Government Should Shut Its Eyes, takes viewers into the uncomfortable political realities of the modern age.

FRONTIER raises the ongoing contemporary debate on national reconciliation in Australia. Don’t miss the premiere this Tuesday July 26 at 9.30 PM.

THE WORLD OF CAREERS TWO BY TWO ON MAORI TELEVISION

CORPORATE WARRIORS, launching on Maori Television this Friday July 29 at 8.30 PM, is an entertainment show with a kaupapa.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to enter another profession? If so, you're in for a treat! Our corporate warriors – Waikato-based brothers Ora and Kiki Kihi – decide to turn their worlds upside down by taking on new jobs each week of this Maui Productions series.

These corporate warriors will be taken out of their comfort zones as they try different and new occupations. The results will be hilarious as our duo attempt to reach the high standards set by their mentors. Be prepared for mayhem and chaos as the brothers give anything and everything a go!

Each episode of the 13-part, bilingual series sees them learn new aspects of the job and be given a set task to complete, under the guidance of a selected mentor. No challenge will be too demanding as the duo are tested to their physical and mental limits – whether that be keeping the streets safe as a Maori warden or entertaining children as a circus clown.

CORPORATE WARRIORS offers an opportunity to prospective participating businesses to share aspects of their profession with the wider community while providing a fun and entertaining series for the family.

Ora and Kiki are ex pupils of Te Wharekura o Rakaumanga in Huntly – in fact, Ora has returned to the school as a teacher. Born and bred in the area, both boys have attended university in the past – aside from spending their spare time indulging in everything from sport to kapa haka to music to art. Kiki has previously been seen on Maori Television as the presenter of rangatahi show Te Maioha.

In the first episode screening on Friday July 29, the boys are set to take on the challenge of two very contrasting job situations. Kiki’s challenge is to become a rafting guide with Rotorua-based Kaitiaki Adventures. On the other side of the coin, Ora gets to stay warm and dry with all hands on as he finds out what it’s like to be a masseur at Hell’s Gate.

Further down the series, we find out what makes chefs so grumpy, what it takes to convince a judge that your client is not guilty, we take the hot seat with one of New Zealand’s best two-wheel rally drivers and get all warm and fuzzy planning weddings.

CORPORATE WARRIORS – double the dosage on Maori Television this Friday July 29 at 8.30 PM.

THE SUNDAY FEATURE: THE SILENT ONE

Maori Television is set to broadcast the 1984 award-winning New Zealand feature THE SILENT ONE this Sunday July 31 at 9.00 PM.

Directed by Yvonne Mackay (The Insiders’ Guide to Happiness, The Insiders’ Guide to Love, Undercover), produced by Dave Gibson and written by Ian Mune, the film was shot in the lush surrounds of the Cook Islands and captures the story of a boy’s friendship with a magical turtle.

Somewhere between fact and fiction, superstition and the supernatural, lies the story of ‘The Silent One’ (played by Telo Malese). Named Jonasi, this uniquely gifted young Polynesian boy was sent from the sea as a baby to grow up in an isolated Pacific village.

Separated from the villagers by his deaf-mute silence and their innate prejudices, he finds solace in his underwater world where he develops a special relationship with a huge white turtle.

Both Jonasi and the turtle are regarded as evil spirits by the superstitious villagers. An inevitable struggle for power and leadership, combined with the requisite natural disasters, sweep Jonasi towards his final destination and ultimate revelation of his magical powers.

THE SILENT ONE was awarded the Special Jury Prize in the Best Actor category at the 1986 Paris Film Festival for Telo Malase’s potent and endearing performance. The film also collected a range of awards at the International Film Festival for Youth (Germany), Giffoni Film Festival (Italy), 1st Festival for Children (France) and more, thus marking it as a film of universal and timeless relevance.

THE SILENT ONE screens on Maori Television this Sunday July 31 at 9.00 PM.

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