A screenshot of Kōkā film, directed by Kath Akuhata Brown and starring Hinetu Dell and Darneen Christian. Photo: Supplied / Māoriland Film Festival
More than 100 films and digital works from 86 indigenous nations will be screening at the Māoriland Film Festival on the Kāpiti Coast next month.
In its 12th year, the festival will open with the debut feature film Kōkā, written and directed by Kath Akuhata Brown of Ngāti Porou, on 26 March.
The next day will be the world premiere of Shrek: Kātahi Te Korokē - the reversioning of the beloved Dreamworks classic into te reo Māori.
Other films to premiere include Julian Arahanga's documentary The Stolen Children of Aotearoa, about the harrowing experiences of survivors who endured abuse while in state care.
Photo: Supplied / Māoriland Film Festival
Festival director Madeleine Hakaraia de Young says this year's theme - 'Ko te mauri, he mea huna ki te Moana' - is a whakataukī that speaks of the climate changes unfolding across the world and the impact on Indigenous communities.
"When we were programming this year's festival, we watched stories that evidence these profound changes all over the planet told through an Indigenous lens.
"We also saw stories of resilience, ingenuity and courage informed by generations of knowledge. Indigenous communities have solutions and we hope visitors to Māoriland will leave this year's festival activated and inspired."
Photo: Supplied / Māoriland Film Festival
The Lost Tiger is this year's free whānau feature film. In the children's film, Chantelle Murray makes history as the first indigenous Australian woman to write and direct an animated feature, which explores Australia's past and present.
Many of the 37 rangatahi filmmakers who will be presenting at the event will be doing so for the first time.
The four-day event in Ōtaki includes filmmaker talk series, indigenous art, food trucks and live music.
