February 02, 2024
Taranaki Māori films get home town screening
Wairoa Māori Film Festival founder Leo Koziol has found some rare Taranaki films to show at a mini-fest in the city this weekend.
The Kiriata Māori Showcase at the includes 30 short films and documentaries as well as Uproar, a feature starring Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s Julian Dennison.
He says there’s work by Taranaki artists like screenwriter Aroha Awarau, actress Rachel House and director/actor Katie Wolf – and there are a number of experimental short films which are hidden gems.
“Toi Māori is toi kiriata, and there’s so much beauty and class that goes into Māori filmmaking,” Mr Kosiol says,
The first showcase movie is sold out tonight at the Len Lye Cinema in New Plymouth, with the showcase finishing on Waitangi Day.
The festival wraps up Te Hau Whakatonu, and exhibition of Māori art drawn from the collection of the Govett-Brewster Gallery collection.