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The Māori screen guild is welcoming the appointment of a wahine Māori as chief executive of the New Zealand Film Commission.
Annie Taima Murray from Te Arawa comes to the role after three years as head of Sky Originals, and she’s head also been head of external programming at Māori Television.
Ngā Aho Whakaari executive director Lanita Ririnui says a te āo Māori perspective should help the commission better support Maori and diverse screen storytelling.
“Because if we think about the films that are coming through now, English isn’t important – there are subtitles everywhere. So there is a real untapped scope for Maori to come though and create and come through with all the stories that we are yet to tell in the way we want to tell them. There is such a big benefit,” she says.
Lanita Ririnui says 7 out of New Zealand’s 10 most successful films are Māori and the Film Commission needs to do a better job reflecting that.
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