Nau mai, haere mai – welcome to Mātaki Mai, Ōtautahi’s inaugural Māori Film Festival, presented by Kōrero ki Ōtautahi. Ko te reo Māori te take – the purpose of Mātaki Mai is to celebrate the indigenous language of Aotearoa and there’s no better time to do that than during te wiki o te reo Māori.
Ngā mihi maioha to our sponsors and supporters: HAPA, Locky Dock, Hayley Landreth, Te Taura Whiri o te reo Māori, Christchurch City Council and Alice Cinema, whom without, this would not have been possible.
Hei ākuanei – see you soon!
Join us for the Opening Night Gala! Your ticket for this event includes a glass of wine and nibbles.
Event starts at 7.30pm
Screening starts at 8.30pm
I am the River, The River Is Me
A journey binding hearts and igniting change.
The Whanganui River is the first river in the world to be recognised as a legal person, as a living adult indivisible being.
Māori river guardian Ned Tapa invites a First Nations Elder from Australia and his daughter, who are activists to saving their own dying river back home, on a five-day canoe trip down this sacred river. Both mirror and inspiration, the river unites all the travellers organically, where everyone has a voice to share stories of humour and light, and a space to heal from the darkness of the past, of enduring historical injustice.
Made over a three-year period, in close collaboration with the Whanganui Māori, the film is a positive, urgent call to action for the rights of nature: now the fastest growing legal movement in the world.
