Acclaimed NZ Doco, Maori Boy Genius, Hits Cinemas

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.

Trailer: http://www.flicks.co.nz/trailer/maori-boy-genius/7225/

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

See also: www.pietrabrettkelly.com; www.maoriboygenius.com; www.theartstarandthesudanesetwins.com

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

www.pietrabrettkelly.com

www.maoriboygenius.com

www.theartstarandthesudanesetwins.com

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.

Find screening times for a cinema near you.

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Naaku noa nei,

Ngaa Rauuira Puumanawawhiti & whanau

ENDS

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