Te Pāmu Kūmara A ‘Game Changer’ - On Whakaata Māori

History will be made when the first ever 100 per cent reo Māori action scripted children’s drama drops on Māori+, the digital platform of Whakaata Māori.

TE PĀMU KŪMARA, (The Kūmara Farm) premieres on Friday 29 July when all six 10 minute episodes will drop on Māori+ at 7.00 PM.

The series, funded by Te Māngai Pāho, is centred around Tai (12 year old Owairea Tawera) and her superhuman whanau who run their local vege shop from their kūmara farm, and must protect their whenua from those who desire it for their own ends.

For Kura Productions’ Managing Director Te Ataraiti Waretini, TE PĀMU KŪMARA is a game changer.

“This programme wouldn’t even have been possible five years ago, says Te Ataraiti.

For generations, many have fought hard for tamariki to be raised with te reo Māori yet, when they come home, those tamariki have had only Pākehā dramas to watch.

“TE PĀMU KŪMARA is a show specifically for our tamariki, something that reflects their Māori values and is in te reo Māori.

“Importantly, it shows a changing of the times, we now have more experienced Māori writers, directors, crew and cast in drama who want high quality content for tamariki.

On set, Te Ataraiti recalls a particularly poignant moment.

“One of the kids was asked, ‘How is it working on a Māori set for a reo Māori show?’ She answered, ‘It’s easy because it’s my culture and my language.’

“It’s not just normalisation of te reo Māori but the Māori working environment. Our tamariki absolutely deserve fun, magical drama all in te reo Māori, which they can relate to.”

EPISODIC BILLINGS

EPISODE ONE: TAONGA – Tai and Nan are approached by Grace, who offers to buy the farm.

EPISODE TWO: KUA HOKI MAI A MĀMĀ (Mum’s Back) – Nan falls sick so Marama and Nīkau return to help run the farm.

EPISODE THREE: TE PŪRERETANGA (The Great Escape) – Tai and Amaia devise a plan to bust Nan out of hospital.

EPISODE FOUR: TE KAUHANGANUI (The Hallway) – The tupu are dying and Tai pushes past her fear of her matakitetanga.

EPISODE FIVE: NGĀ HAUTUTŪ (Pranksters) – The kids prank Grace to leave their farm.

EPISODE SIX: TAHUNA (Burn It) – Tai tries to figure out why the tupu are still dying.

PRODUCER BIO: TE ATARAITI WARETINI

Te Ataraiti has an extensive background in the television industry, having worked both in New Zealand and abroad for well over a decade. Through her experience of working on a range of different shows for kaupapa Maori, she has learned the importance of te reo Maori and tikanga Maori being present behind and in front of the camera to deliver genuine and evocative Maori content.

Te Ataraiti also lived and worked for a diverse range of shows and networks in the UK. As Managing Director of Kura Productions, she brings with her a broad range of international experience and an enthusiastic approach to create more meaningful Maori content for Aotearoa/New Zealand and the world. Te Pāmu Kūmara has been particularly meaningful as tamariki have a high quality reo Māori drama to connect to not just non-Māori shows. It is a show unlike any other I’ve seen.

CAST BIOS

TAI KAHU – Owairea Tawera (Te Rarawa, Te Whānau-a-Apanui)

Performing is in the blood for 12 year old actress Owairea Tawera, both of her parents also work in the industry as actors, presenters and kapa haka performers, so it was fairly inevitable that she too would pursue a career in the arts. Owairea had a small role in award-winning New Zealand movie Night’s in the Garden of Spain when she was a baby. She is also a Kapa Haka performer and speaks fluent te reo Māori.

NAN – Kararaina Rangihau (Tūhoe, Te Arawa)

Playing the nan of Tai and Nīkau, Kararaina Rangihau is of Tūhoe and Te Arawa ancestry and lives in Waikaremoana. She is a dedicated Tūhoe tribeswoman committed to the preservation, protection and restoration of Tūhoe epistemology, and devoted to ensuring that Tūhoetanga continues as a living practice in her community. After 20 years of involvement in various projects as an actress, writer, singer, composer, director and producer for Māori children’s television, film, Māori radio, theatre, and community development, Kararaina made her first short film – Taku Rakau E in 2010. She has a Masters in Applied Indigenous Knowledge at Te Wānanga o Āotearoa. In 2012, she was a cultural advisor and te reo Māori translator for the movie White Lies, which was submitted as the official New Zealand entry for consideration for Best Foreign Language film at the 86th Academy Awards, and in 2017 she starred in the award-winning movie Waru.

AMAIA – Rawinia Morehu (Ngāti Hine, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Tūwharetoa)

Amaia is Tai’s best friend. Fluent te reo Māori speaker, Rawinia has several years of presenting experience under her belt. She featured as a child host in a Te Wiki o te Reo Māori campaign for Whakaata Māori in 2017 and has worked as a Kea Kids reporter for Stuff.co.nz. This is Rawinia’s first acting role.

NĪKAU – Kanoa MacFie (Waikato, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi te Rangi, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Pāoa)

Thirteen year old Kanoa MacFie plays Nīkau, Tai’s brother. He is a fluent te reo Māori speaker, a passionate waka ama paddler and a proud participant in this country’s largest longitudinal study, Growing Up in New Zealand. He’s also starred in commercials for NZ Tourism. This is Kanoa’s first acting role.

MARAMA – Awhina-Rose Ashby

Awhina-Rose plays Marama, māmā to Tai and Nīkau. She has an extensive acting CV having worked in film TV and theatre for many years. Roles in the feature films Waru and Resolve are career highlights for the talented actress. She has also starred in The Ring-Inz for Whakaata Māori and has had roles in Shortland Street, Dear Murder, Find Me a Māori Bride and the award-winning and critically acclaimed Rūrangi.

MIKAERE – Aniwa Whaiapu Koloamatangi (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Waikato, Tonga)

Aniwa plays an older cousin of Amaia. He discovered a love for performing during his time at Auckland's Western Springs High School. He joined the cast of Ahikāroa, the long running bilingual drama series for Whakaata Māori, in season 2 and is now filming the 5th season, in which he plays the character ‘Kid’. He’s also recently starred in documentary series Queer and Here.

GRACE – Acushla-Tara Kupe (Ngāti Maniapoto)

Acushla-Tara plays Grace, a scheming real estate agent desperate to get her hands on Te Pāmu Kūmara. She recently finished a year a Te Wānanga o Takiura – a full immersion reo course and found that her role in Te Pāmu Kūmara was a great experience to help her on her reo Māori journey. She is a trained actress and played the wife of Joseph Gordon Levitt on Apple+ Mr Corman. She’s also worked on Creeped Out for the BBC and has an extensive theatre and film CV as well.

PĀORA – Scotty Cotter (Tainui, Ngāti Kahu, Fiji)

Scotty plays Pāora, Grace’s half-wit sidekick. He has been working in entertainment for over two decades. He has appeared as a core cast member on shows such as Shortland Street, Brown Brothaz, Whānau, The Sounds and more recently in Kura Season 2 and My Life Is Murder S2 as Vincent. In 2016, he appeared in New Zealand film The Rehearsal. Scotty is also a stage actor and director, his credits including He Kura E Huna Ana, Bless the Child and The Wholehearted, which he co-directed.

ABOUT KURA PRODUCTIONS

Kura Productions Ltd is a production company with over 15 years’ experience of creating Maori content for television, film and digital spaces. The company has an impressive resume of shows including game show Kupu Huna, children’s show Pūkoro, te reo Māori language learning programme Tōku Reo, comedy Only In Aotearoa, Facebook panel show Nā Wai I Teka?, Matariki special Stan Walker: Impossible Live and popular bilingual drama Ahikāroa.

The company has also produced feature film Mt Zion and docu_drama Māui’s Hook. Ahikāroa won 2021 NZ WebFest awards for Best Ensemble, Best Actress (Turia Schmidt-Peke), Best Show. Te Ataraiti Waretini manages the joint venture and determines its scope and direction. South Pacific Pictures contributes development funding, financial and legal advice, and training.

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