MAORI & PASIFIKA CINEMA - PROGRAMME 2

This collection of films from NZ and across the Pacific is representative of the birth of a new "Hawaiiki" - the traditional Polynesian ancestral home. Thematically, the film works are diverse, broaching gender identity, social issues, cultural histories, migration and diaspora, and the line between memory and dreaming.

With guest curators:
Leo Koziol, director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival
Deborah Walker, University of Auckland, New Zealand

And guest filmmaker: Dianna Fuemana

Free screening

(see also PROGRAMME 1: MAORI SHORTS, August 6, 2pm)

Films in programme 2:

LET THE MOUNTAIN SPEAK
Vilsoni Hereniko (Pasifika) / Producer Jeannette Hereniko, 2017 4 min USA
A visual treat of the world's tallest mountain on earth where telescopes reach out to starry skies, this visual poem accompanied by stunning images and ethereal music alludes also to human relationships where sacred and secular values collide and search for meaning. Cinematographer Paul Atkins (Master and Commander).

SUNDAY FUN DAY
Writer/Director Dianna Fuemana (Niuean) / Producer Jay Ryan, 2016 15 min NZ
A teenager and a solo mum prepare to have their own fun on a Sunday. NZIFF 2017.

MARIA
Director/Writer Jeremiah Tauamiti (Samoa), 2016 14 min NZ
An elderly Polynesian matriarch receives help from an unexpected visitor as she struggles to reunite her fractured family. HIFF 2016. Producer Karin Williams.

I HAVE CURLS
Writer/Director Maria Vai (Tonga), 2017 14 min NZ
Charlotte’s Tongan roots come to surface. In order to embrace her identity, Charlotte must confront her mother’s secrets – with or without her blessing.

JE SUIS UNE FLEUR
Director Manu Bonnefin (Tahiti), 2017 6 min Tahiti/French Polynesia (Note: mature content)
This is the story of a boy who sees himself as a girl. A difference which will be accepted badly. He will hate his sex for the benefit of his internal feeling. A drama on the study of the acceptance of difference. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" (Oscar Wilde)