Te Waipounamu Marae Film Tour - Ōtautahi ki Awarua

Muttonbirding (1921).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Te Waipounamu Marae Film Tour - Ōtautahi ki Awarua

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision and Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga are partnering to present a programme of over 20 moving image excerpts celebrating Ngāi Tahu history, screened in seven local marae. The films, made between 1910 and 2008, feature Ngāi Tahu people, land, and traditions.

Residents and visitors to Canterbury, Otago and Southland are invited to attend Te Waipounamu Marae Film Tour - Ōtautahi ki Awarua screenings (gold coin donation entry) from 24 November to 1 December. This is a unique opportunity to experience moving image taonga, including some of the earliest surviving Ngāi Tahu films, presented in marae screening venues across Te Waipounamu.

The partnership between Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, New Zealand’s national audiovisual archive, and Heritage New Zealand, an organisation dedicated to preserving our nation’s heritage places, highlights the tangible nature of history. The films bring the past to life, and screening them in these places of historic significance – some of which feature in the films themselves – adds another layer of immediacy.

The screening programme is composed of home movie, newsreel, and television footage. Rare early images of gathering kai show whitebaiting at Ōpihi in 1925 and an eeling expedition during the 1930s. The early silent films are accompanied by a taonga puoro soundtrack specially composed by musician Alistair Fraser.

Possibly the most dramatic film on the programme is of muttonbirders leaving Bluff on the ferry Wairua, bound for the Tītī Islands, in 1965. The film shows the difficult landings on the islands, with the birders leaping from small boats onto rocks.

A 1931 film documents the centenary commemorations at Kaiapoi Pā. Thousands of Māori and Pākehā from surrounding districts attended the occasion, and kaumatua Te Ari Pitama speaks on film as the hāngī is prepared. Other historic films include: the welcome of the 28th Māori Battalion in Wellington in 1946, the opening of Rehua marae in 1960, and many other scenes featuring various Ngāi Tahu marae and kaumātua.

Among the more recent clips are: a 2006 documentary on the preservation of Māori rock drawings at Ōpihi, footage from a weaving workshop at Rāpaki Marae in 2001, Maika Mason talking about pounamu in 1998, and a 2008 clip of David Ellison of Karitane speaking about his father’s wartime experiences.

While the focus is on Ngāi Tahu, accompanying music clips from a range of popular Māori musicians and showbands will capture the spirit of these earlier times.

The programme has been prepared by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision’s Lawrence Wharerau (Kairangahau: Cataloguer) and Jane Paul (Community Programme Co-ordinator), with Heritage New Zealand’s Pouarahi Te Tai Tonga, Huia Pacey, facilitating the tour itinerary.

Huia says “I can’t think of a better place to view this historic archival film footage than in the whare that represent the continuing presence of our people and the landscape.”

“We are thrilled to be once again working with Heritage New Zealand,” says Jane. “So far this partnership has included screening tours of the West Coast, Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa woolsheds, and a Canterbury tour last year. One of the venues for that Canterbury tour was the Tuahiwi Marae, and the success of that screening has led to this new tour of Te Waipounamu. We look forward to bringing these films home to the communities in which they were made.”

“
The memories that archival film images can conjure up for people are wide and varied: from nostalgia, through to surprise at how different things were then compared to now – as well as noting how little some things change,” adds Lawrence.

The tour dates follow:

Monday 24 November, 6pm
Rāpaki Marae
37 Rāpaki Drive
RĀPAKI

Tuesday 25 November, 6pm
Rehua Marae
79 Springfield Road
CHRISTCHURCH

Thursday 27 November, 6pm
Arowhenua Marae
38 Huirapa St
TEMUKA

Friday 28 November, 6pm
Puketeraki Marae
5 Apes Road
KARITANE
Saturday 29 November, 1pm
Murihiku Marae
408 Tramway Road
INVERCARGILL
Saturday 29 November, 6pm
Te Rau Aroha Marae
8 Bradshaw Street
BLUFF

Monday 1 December, 6pm
Arai te Uru Marae
24 Shetland Street, Wakari
DUNEDIN

For more details about Te Waipounamu Marae Film Tour -
Ōtautahi ki Awarua visit
www.ngataonga.org.nz or www.heritage.org.nz

ENDS

BACKGROUND

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is our leading national historic heritage agency. Formerly known as the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, Heritage New Zealand works to ensure that New Zealand’s heritage places are preserved for future generations.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is the operating name for the New Zealand Archive of Film, Television and Sound Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua Me Ngā Taonga Kōrero – New Zealand’s new, national audiovisual archive. The archive was formed by the amalgamation of three archives in August 2014: the former New Zealand Film Archive, Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero, and Television New Zealand Archive.

© Scoop Media