NZIFF 2019 Ngā Whanaunga Māori Pasifika Shorts 2019

A collection of Māori and Pasifika short films curated by Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka), director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, with guest co-curator Craig Fasi (Niue), director of the Pollywood Film Festival. Curators’ comments on each film appear in italics.

Our Atoll Speaks: Ko Talatala Mai Tō Mātou Wenua 2019
Dir. Gemma Cubero del Barrio
A meditation on sustainability from the remote Pukapuka atoll in the Cook Islands. A serenade of narrative and captivating imagery – a political cry for help. — CF

Ani 2018
Dir. Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa)
A young Māori girl drifts into a world of make-believe when her mother leaves her – and her father – to fend for themselves. A tribute to the realities of solo parenting – touching and insightful. — CF

Liliu 2018
Dir. Jeremiah Tauamiti
A court interpreter in colonial Samoa risks everything to help a wrongfully convicted chief. In the time of King George VI, it was a time for guardianship of indigenous history as truth. — LK

Ways to See 2019
Dir. Jessica Sanderson(Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga & Te Āti Awa)
A young Māori girl attempts to use mystical powers to reconnect with her absent father. A mysterious woman, beautiful and otherworldly, comes for a visit. – CF

Rū 2019
Dir. Awanui Simich-Pene (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngāti Apakura)
A pregnant woman must fight for her life when she inadvertently becomes the victim of a violent initiation. A routine whānau errand turns dark in this unexpected native noir. — LK

Yellow Roses 2019
An elderly Māori woman who pines for the company of her husband enlists the services of a male escort. Vicky Haughton shines in a story of lost love reawakened. — LK