Canterbury Film Society :: 2006 :: Tangata Whenua - Short Films with a Maori Theme

Tangata Whenua
Short Films with a Maori Theme

Screening: Monday 30 October, 6:30pm

Two Cars, One Night

New Zealand
2003

Director: Taika Waititi
Producers: Ainsley Gardiner, Catherine Fitzgerald

Leading Players:
Rangi Ngamoki
Hutini Waikato
Te Ahiwaru Ngamoki-Richards
Dion Waikato
Riwai Waka

11 minutes

The charming tale of two boys and a girl in the carpark outside the Te Kaha pub. While waiting for their parents inside, their relationship develops from rivalry into close freindship ... proving that love can be found in the most unlikely of places.

"There are a few moments in childhood that have a lasting impact. Not because they change the course of your life, or because they arrive with any great fanfare, in fact quite the opposite. Those are moments where an unexpected joy is found in the everyday, a moment of beauty in the ordinary.

captures one of those brief moments."- Taika Waititi

Link:

Official Website.

Te Po Uriuri

New Zealand 2001) 14 minutes

Director: Toby Mills
Producer: Norman Elder
Screenplay: Toby Mills

1592. Retribution is swift when Awatea, enraged by the arranged marriage of his lover Te Po, commits vengeful murder to get her back. Based on Shakespearian sonnet 147, translated into Maori and set in a pre-European context.

Link:

Film Comission listing

Kerosene Creek

New Zealand 2004) 14 minutes

Director: Michael Bennett
Producer: Catherine Fitzgerald
Screenplay: Michael Bennett
Cinematography: Leon Narbey
Editing: John Gilbert

Leading Players:
Taungaroa Emile (Sonny Boy)
Darcy Ray Flavell Hudson (Mu)
Atarangi Manley (Jayde)
Miriama McDowell (Wiki)
Jared Rawiri (Robbie)

Close friends Jayde and Wiremu tag along with their teenage siblings to the local swimming pool. But igniting young passions can sometimes be as explosive as kerosene. A graduate of the Australian Film Television and Radio School in Sydney, Michael Bennett's short film is an intimate view into a small community.

Link:

Film Comission Listing

The Little Things

New Zealand 2004) 12 minutes

Director: Reina Webster
Producer: Catherine Fitzgerald
Screenplay: Reina Webster
Cinematography: Rhys Duncan
Editing: Owen Ferrier-Kerr

"A subtle, beautiful, moving short film that takes us into an experience of the world through the eyes of a young Maori girl. Importantly we hit home on the eve of George's 14th Birthday, as she is about to depart childhood. It is clear however that she knows all to well of the hard realities of life they surround her. An important story that needs to be told, film stands as a wonderful medium to spread these experiences and enrich our community, and the NZFC should commended for dedicating funds to a project that carries social responsibility delicately into our hearts and minds. Director Reina Webster has made a film that transcends Maori culture and speaks of everyone's responsibility to be there for each other, as well as demonstrating how strong content will out-weigh any shortcomings in production. The characters moved me to the point of overlooking how the film was put together a great sign of successful storytelling."- Benjamin Barrett, The Lumiere Reader.

Link:

Film Comission Listing

Tama Tu

New Zealand 2005) 18 minutes

Director: Taika Waititi
Producers: Ainsley Gardiner, Cliff Curtis
Screenplay: Taika Waititi

Leading Players:
Tommy Davis
Taungaroa Emile
Rob Mokaraka
Jarod Rawiri

Six Maori Battalion soldiers wait for night to fall in the ruins of a ruined Italian home. Forced into silence they keep themselves amused like any boys would, with jokes and laughter. As they try and ignore the reminders of war around them, a tohu (sign) brings them back to the world of the dying. They gather to say a karakia (prayer) to unite their spirits before they head back into the dark of war. Even at war - boys will be boys.

Link: