Wairoa Māori Film Festival June 1 to 4 2018

Wairoa Māori Film Festival June 1 to 4 2018
Programme Now Online
At www.KiaOra.TV

PRESS RELEASE: APRIL 30 2018 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The organisers of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival are proud to announce the launch of their programme of Māori, Pasifika and world indigenous films for 2018. Five features and over fifty short films will be presented over four days, with works from Aotearoa, the Cook Islands, Hawaii, USA, Tahiti, Guam, Vanuatu, Chile and Lithuania.

"Our festival once again brings indigenous voices into the light," says Festival Director Leo Koziol. "In its 13th year, we continue to present documentary, feature and short film works that celebrate and grow the indigenous storyteller narrative."

Highlights of the film festival:
• A special presentation of WARU at Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka. This anthology feature by eight Māori wahine directors is a groundbreaking landmark in New Zealand film making. Directors of WARU are Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe and Paula Jones. Chelsea Cohen (Winstanley) and Katie Wolfe are former recipients of the Wairoa Maori Film Festival - Women in Film & Television Mana Wahine Award.
• OUT OF STATE, the feature documentary by Hawai'i director Ciara Lacy. Shipped thousands of miles away from the tropical islands of Hawaii to a private prison in the Arizona desert, two native Hawaiians discover their indigenous traditions from a fellow inmate serving a life sentence.
• MAO'HI NUI IN THE HEART OF THE OCEAN MY COUNTRY LIES. An ancestral voice recites the past, present and future of the Ma'ohi, the people of Tahiti. She speaks to Tanaoa, a young man in search of the fading identity of his people. Eye-witness accounts recall the nuclear testing done by French colonizers from 1966 1996 on the French Polynesian atolls Moruroa and Fangataufa, near Tahiti.
Particular focus once again at the Wairoa Māori Film Festival is upon Māori and Pasifika short films. Short films by Māori and Pasifika descent directors include:
• PāPā by Ryan Alexander Lloyd (Māori). A tender portrait of a seemingly elusive father is told through the memories of his daughters.
• Roto by Louise Potiki Bryant (Māori). Inspired by Lake Wānaka in Te Wai Pounamu, acclaimed artist Louise Potiki Bryant presents a striking dance film that explores our consciousness and emotional state, embodied within the word “roto” meaning both “lake” and “within”.
• Puoro by Komako Aroha Silver (Māori). A story following the journey of Jerome Kavanagh, a young Māori practitioner of taonga puoro (traditional instruments used in sacred, ritual and healing ceremonies) as he revives ancient ancestral practices in our contemporary world.
• Moon Melon by Trina Peterz (Pasifika). A group of young Polynesian women trying to break cultural boundaries and gender stereotypes within their community find themselves and something else.
• The Boy From Rarotonga by Joshua Teariki Baker (Cook Islands). A grandmother is forced to look after a grandson she never knew she had.
• My Friend Michael Jones by Ian Leaupepe and Samson Rambo. Set in Ōtara, New Zealand, 'My Friend Michael Jones' features an eclectic ensemble of Pasifika characters dealing with issues relating to anxiety disorder, bullying, LGBTQI and suicide prevention.
Tickets for the Wairoa Māori Film Festival are now online at Eventfinda:

https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2018/wairoa-maori-film-festival-2018/wairoa

An annual highlight of the festival is the Wairoa Māori Film Awards Gala, which is expected to sell out. This year's awards gala will be focused on local Wairoa talent, including performances by kapa haka and a local musical group of national renown. "We're keeping the details of the gala under wraps, but it's recommended to get in quick as this event is expected to sell out," says Festival Director Leo Koziol.

Tickets to the Gala are available at Eventfinda:

https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2018/wairoa-m-ori-film-awards-gala-2018/wairoa

Wairoa Maori Film Festival June 1 to 4 2018
Programme Online Now at www.KiaOra.TV
The Wairoa Māori Film Festival is held each year in Nuhaka and Wairoa on New Zealand's stunning East Coast. This year's festival is June 1 to 4, at Kahungunu Marae, Nuhaka, and the Gaiety Theatre, Wairoa.

Sponsors and supporters of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival include the NZ Film Commission and Wairoa District Council.

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