One of Aotearoa’s most prominent Māori storytellers, Tainui Stephens, is turning the lens on his own life with a new collection reflecting on five decades of filmmaking, broadcasting, writing and the changing face of te ao Māori.
The Te Rarawa filmmaker and broadcaster has gathered some of his best writing from E-Tangata for Kua Tau: A Life in Stories, tracing a journey shaped by kaumātua, marae aunties, activists, artists, rangatahi, whānau and friends.
The collection stretches from the political and cultural upheaval of the 1970s and 1980s through to the Māori world of today, exploring te reo and tikanga, identity, racism, leadership, grief, joy and the people who helped shape Stephens’ understanding of himself and his place in Aotearoa.
At the heart of the book is a simple kaupapa — the stories belong to the people, while the storyteller carries the responsibility of giving them voice.
Stephens’ screen career spans five decades. He began at TVNZ in 1984 reporting for the groundbreaking Māori programme Koha and went on to work as a director, producer and presenter across productions including Waka Huia, The New Zealand Wars, Hitler and the Gumdiggers and Taumata 3001.
His feature-film producing credits include River Queen, The Dead Lands, Whina, Holy Days and Ka Mate.
Stephens is also one of the five founders of the Māoriland Film Festival, alongside his wife and fellow filmmaker Libby Hakaraia.
Kua Tau will be launched on Thursday 1 October at the Māoriland Hub in Ōtaki, bringing the story back to a community that has become an important home for Indigenous film and storytelling.
After a lifetime spent helping tell the stories of others, Kua Tau gives Stephens the space to tell his own — and reflect on the people, places and kaupapa that made him whole.
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