March 19, 2024
Taranaki maunga co-star in identity movie
Director Rachel House says making a film set on Taranaki maunga posed some technical challenges, but the maunga and its iwi showed the way.
The Mountain premieres in New Plymouth today.
It’s based on a script by comedy writer Tom Furniss about someone with cancer climbing a mountain as a bucket list activity, which Huse decolonised to become a tale of reconnection to identity.
“We haven’t all been fortunate enough to be raised in te āo Māori, A lot of us have struggled with that, with knowing what our identity is. That became her biggest driver, that she wanted to connect with this maunga who she thought was her maunga and gain strength, but also really connect with that part of herself,” House says.
Taranaki maunga was uncharacteristically cloud-free for much of the filming, but Weta Workshop was able to add some atmosphere in post production.