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Cast and crew of Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa’s new Apple TV+ series have been welcomed to west Auckland at Hoani Waititi Marae.
Temuera Morrison says after two months of filming in Hawaii, the production of Yenedakine (Chief of War) has moved to the new studio complex at Glen Eden – and locations around the country where old Hawaii can be evoked without a hotel in the background.
The series is based on the true story of a warrior chief caught up in the colonisation of Hawaii in the late 1700s.
Morrison says there are strong connections between Hoani Waititi and Hawaii, with many native Hawaiians coming out over the years to get help with their own language revitalisation efforts.
“So it was wonderful. The whanau from Hoani Waititi Marae came out in their numbers, hundreds of them were there. I thought they were coming to meet me and Cliff (Curtis), but I think Jason was the key figure of the day and he really enjoys that stuff. He loves the haka, and man, they put it on for us. Ka mau te wehi would be the only way to describe yesterday’s event,” he says.
A lot of the dialogue in Yenedakine is in Hawaiian, so it will be a great resource for Hawaiian children to see their language spoken on a modern medium.
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