Announcing the first annual Māori Film Week

Announcing the first annual Māori Film Week - He Wiki Kiriata Māori.

What is Māori Film Week - He Wiki Kiriata Māori?

There is Māori Language Week and New Zealand Music Month, but until now there hasn't been a week promoting and presenting Maori film.

Māori Film Week makes sense because so many of our biggest movie hits are Māori - films like Boy, Once Were Warriors, and Whale Rider - so this will be a time to both celebrate old hits and discover new talent.

Māori Film Week presents both Māori films, and also international indigenous films. International film makers, artists and musicians have traveled to NZ especially for Māori Film Week, and will be collaborating with Māori artists, film makers and musicians here.

This year alongside the film screenings, there are art exhibitions, wānanga (workshops), artist retreats and musical performances.

When is Māori Film Week - Hi Wiki Kiriata Māori?

Māori Film Week will be every year in the first week of the Auckland Matariki calendar, in June or July, as the Matariki constellation rises on the horizon.

In 2018, Māori Film Week is June 30 to July 8.

Who is organising Māori Film Week - He Wiki Kiriata Māori?

The Wairoa Māori Film Festival is presenting Māori Film Week in Auckland this year, with the support of Auckland Council, NZ Film Commission and Nga Aho Whakaari Māori in Screen Production.

Wairoa Māori Film Festival has presented the Māori film festival on the East Coast of NZ for a dozen years. Many of the films screening at Māori Film Week this year have just screened at the Māori film festival, which took place at Queen's Birthday weekend in early June.

Wairoa Māori Film Festival is excited to present some of the best films from the Māori film festival in Auckland each year.

Why Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau?

Auckland is NZ's largest and most diverse city, but until now the city hasn't had an annual festival of Māori film! Māori Film Week will be an annual Māori film festival, and so much more.

Film is such a nexus for Māori and indigenous creative talent. Māori Film Week will look at art, design, food, fashion, literature, pop culture and music and their connection to film and screen production.

Māori Film Week has a strong design and art focus as it is being supported by the Auckland Design Office of Auckland Council. Part of our "Māori Futurism" theme for 2018 is imagining Tāmaki Makaurau as a Māori city, through the medium of film and moving image.

Films are presented both in venues and online. For example, this year Māori Film Week has also presented two Maori films on to NZ On Screen online. We expect this to grow each year in future.

What are the highlights this year?

We're particularly excited about our free Troy Kingi concert in Freyberg Place, 6 pm on a Friday July 6. It's themed as "Journey to Zygertron" and there will be robots, laser beams and dancers!

We are also really excited that all of the screenings are either free or low cost, thanks to the sponsorship of Auckland Council. All of the screenings at Ellen Melville Centre are free, from July 6 to July 8. You can pre book at Eventbrite. Screenings at the Academy Cinema are only $10, $5 concession.

We love all the art at Māori Film Week this year. There is an exhibition at TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre in Hillsborough that people should check out, light boxes in Freyberg Place and Bledisloe Lane, and a light activation at Pa Rongorongo on Victoria Street (photos, above).

There's a real wow factor to Māori Film Week this year, lighting up the streets of the city and letting Māori people see themselves across Tāmaki Makaurau.

All the Māori Film Week details are at: www.kiaora.tv

Come along to the free Troy Kingi Concert:
http://www.kiaora.tv/maori-film-week/2018/6/16/journey-to-zygertron

Book the free tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/wairoa-maori-film-festival-17523993246

Buy tickets at the Academy:
https://academycinemas.co.nz/maori-film-week

The guest artists at Māori Film Week 2018:
http://www.kiaora.tv/maori-film-week/2018/6/29/maori-film-week-artists

Maori Film Week - He Wiki Kiriata Maori 2018

Wairoa Māori Film Festival presents He Wiki Kiriata Māori – Māori Film Week, a celebration of Māori and indigenous cinema and multimedia in central Auckland.

This year the theme is Māori Futurism, spread across nine days and seven venues, with over 50 short films, feature dramas and documentaries.

He Wiki Kiriata Māori presents a feast of futuristic and fantastic Māori and indigenous art and culture, including Lightbox Art Exhibitions in Freyberg Place and Bledisloe Lane.

Kindly supported by Auckland Council.

Authorised by: Te Roopu Whakaata Māori I Te Wairoa Inc & Kaporangi Kiriata Māori Film Arts Trust.

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