Press release: 17 April 2013
Acclaimed NZ Doco, Maori Boy Genius, Hits Cinemas
Tena koutou katoa e nga rangatira!
After wowing overseas audiences at film festivals in Berlin, Toronto, Anchorage, Copenhagen, Bergen, Amsterdam, London,
Sydney, New York and other cities around the world last year, feature documentary Maori Boy Genius is returning home for a nationwide cinema release, beginning 2 May.
The film, which also played at the 2012 NZ International Film Festival and won Best Documentary at the 2012 NZ Film
Awards, focuses on a year in the life of Ngaa Rauuira Puumanawawhiti.
Identified from birth as a potential future leader – of his iwi, of New Zealand, and of indigenous people around the
world – the charismatic, articulate 16-year-old is under no illusions about the importance of this period.
“I feel like this year is a critical year,” he says in the documentary. “This year will probably determine what type of
adult I’ll grow to become. If it is my destiny to lead people, then this is the year to assert that character.”
Directed by Pietra Brettkelly (The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins), Maori Boy Genius documents Ngaa Rauuira’s deeply supportive family life and his emerging political consciousness over 12 months that
include the birth of his fifth sibling and attending Yale University’s prestigious summer semester programme.
Hailed as “inspiring” and “shrewd” by Hollywood bible Variety and “a must-see” by The Daily Telegraph & Wall Street Journal, Maori Boy Genius is a film with a powerful message of hope for the future of Aotearoa.
Key credits:
Writer/Director/Producer: Pietra Brettkelly
Director of Photography: Jacob Bryant
Editor: Molly Malene Stensgaard
Original Soundtrack: Anika Moa
Executive Producers: Joanna Paul, Jennifer Fox, Michael Haslund-Christensen, Vicki Jackways
Made with the assistance of: VPRO, Park Road Post, Doc Lab of the Binger Filmlab, NZ on Air
Running Time: 84 minutes
Release dates:
2 May
Auckland Bridgeway
Auckland Rialto Cinema
Dunedin Rialto Cinema
Feilding Focal Point Cinema
Gisborne Odeon Multiplex
Kaikoura Mayfair Theatre
Levin Focal Point Cinema
Oamaru Limelight Cinema
Opotiki Deluxe Theatre
Pukekohe Cinema 3
Rotorua Basement Cinemas
Russell Cinema Kororareka
Stratford Kings Theatre
Sumner Hollywood Cinema
Timaru Movie Max
Whakatane Whakamax Cinema
9 May
Alexandra Central Cinema
Tauranga Bay City Cinemas
Wellington Paramount
Whanganui Embassy 3
16 May
Havelock Nth Cinema Gold
Palmerston North Cinema Gold
17 May
Nelson State Cinema
23 May
Upper Hutt Ascot Cinema
24 May
Raglan Old School Arts Centre
Dates to be confirmed
Gore St James Theatre
Kaikohe Castleduo Cinema
Motueka Gecko Theatre
Pauatahanui Light House
Petone Light House
Waikanae ShoreLine
Pietra Brettkelly
Click for big version.
Pietra
Brettkelly
presents
MAORI BOY GENIUS
After wowing overseas audiences at film festivals in Berlin, Sydney and New York last year, feature documentary Maori Boy Genius is returning home for a nationwide cinema release, beginning 2 May.
The film, which also played at the 2012 NZ International Film Festival and won Best Documentary at the 2012 NZ Film
Awards, focuses on a year in the life of Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti.
Identified from birth as a potential future leader – of his iwi, of New Zealand, and of indigenous people around the
world – the charismatic, articulate 16-year-old is under no illusions about the importance of this period.
“I feel like this year is a critical year,” he says in the documentary. “This year will probably determine what type of
adult I’ll grow to become. If it is my destiny to lead people, then this is the year to assert that character.”
Directed by Pietra Brettkelly (The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins), Maori Boy Genius documents Ngaa Rauuira’s deeply supportive family life and his emerging political consciousness over 12 months that
include the birth of his fifth sibling and attending Yale University’s prestigious summer semester programme.
Hailed as “inspiring” and “shrewd” by Hollywood bible Variety and “a must-see” by The Daily Telegraph, Maori Boy Genius is a film with a powerful message of hope for the future of Aotearoa.
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Naaku noa nei,
Ngaa Rauuira Puumanawawhiti & whanau
ENDS