South Pacific New Wave: Māori Cinema as a Cultural Renaissance
Free Activity | Space is limited, No reservation required
The Museum and the International First Peoples Festival invite you to a talk with Leo Koziol, founder and festival director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival.
The Māori cinema of Aotearoa New Zealand has been going through a transformational renaissance over the past fifteen years, with over a dozen new Native-made feature films, many fully or largely in the Native language. At the same time, these films have been box office successes, with Māori and Pacific films now comprising the majority of NZ top films of all-time. This transformation did not happen by accident, it comes after many years of struggle and activism by filmmakers such as Merata Mita, Barry Barclay and Witi Ihimaera.
Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka) is founder and festival director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival, and he presents a visual essay, a journey into Māori cinema in its contemporary context. Particular focus is made upon Māori wahine (women) filmmaking, focusing on the film Waru as a seminal work in the emergence of new Māori female talent. Short films, excerpts and trailers will be screened as part of this presentation.
About Leo Koziol
Leo Koziol (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rakaipaaka) is founder and director of the Wairoa Māori Film Festival. It is the longest-running indigenous film festival of New Zealand takes place in a traditional marae (Maori assembly house) every year. Leo Koziol worked as cultural advisor in the Ministry of Maori Development and curates short films for the New Zealand International Film Festival (Ngā Whanaunga Maori Pasifika programme). He also curates for various film festivals in Canada, Italy, Polynesia, the United States and Australia. Leo is Indigenous Editor for Letterboxd Journal, and interviews Indigenous filmmakers all over the world. He is the subject of short film Native in Nuhaka by award winning film maker Hiona Henare. In 2019, he was presented with the Te Aupounamu Māori in Screen Excellence Award. In 2020, he was a guest film expert in the visitor programme of the Goethe Institute at the Berlinale film festival.
Information
- Free activity in English, presented on Wednesday August 7, 2024, at 6 p.m.
Space is limited, no reservations - Duration: 90 minutes
- Location: J. Armand Bombardier Theater
In collaboration with
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