Dial a Maori - The Art of Consultation

Dial a Maori - The Art of Consultation

So, you’ve got a 'Maori' project, it’s been written, the main crew have been identified, you have a financial plan in place, it’s even close to greenlight, and the only thing missing is… Maoris.

Comments on this subject over the last decade range from "but Maori aren’t skilled enough?", and "It’s really hard finding Maori crew", to "The Maori worldview is so…abstract"; oh and we can't forget this one… "do Maori women always wear black when they’re on a Marae?". One of the all time favourites – "the tangi is the cliché of Maori storytelling, can’t they just be buried already!". Yes, we’ve heard it all and everyone is still in one piece. Now though, it’s time for a proper discussion about this somewhat political issue.

We’re not going to mention names, nor are we going to trash specific projects, we’re going to take a good hard look at the way forward for New Zealand film and television projects and the place of Maori in this landscape. We’re discussing the art of consultation.Who are the people you call, where are they and what skills must they have?

Join Kath Akuhata-Brown (Script to Screen Board Member, Development Exec NZFC) as she interviewsTainui Stephens (River Queen, The Strength of Water, Rain of the Children) and Lawrence Wharerau (The Piano, Waitangi: What Really Happened) about what it means to engage properly with Maori stories.

START TIME: 6.30pm Start, Wednesday 19 October, NZ Film Archive, 84 Taranaki Street, Wellington, $5 koha appreciated

ENDS

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