June 05, 2013
Māori Boy Genius tops Wairoa film festival
The director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival says the annual event is going from strength to strength.
Films from indigenous filmmakers in Brazil, the Philippines and other countries were shown at Kahungunu Marae in Nuhaka alongside Māori shorts and features.
There were also discussions and workshops.
Leo Koziol says highlights include the Mana Wahine award for Keri Kaa and the reception given to Māori Boy Genius, which took the Mana Wairoa Award for best overall entry.
"It’s really the premier prize for a film the Wairoa Māori Film Festival says this film shines in a special way. It's fighting for the rights of our people, his voice is saying 'young Māori kids, you don't need to think of yourselves as inevitable failures, you've got to think positively, you've got to think successfully,' and of course he went to Yale at 17 years old," he says.
Mr Koziol says the star of the film, Ngā Raūira Pumanawawhiti, is from the Paku whānau of Wairoa, who turned out in force to support.
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