MĀORILAND FILM FESTIVAL
Each March the Indigenous world comes together in Ōtaki, Aotearoa (New Zealand) to celebrate Indigenous screen storytelling at Māoriland Film Festival, the largest Indigenous film festival in the Southern Hemisphere.
Located on New Zealand’s Kāpiti Coast, Ōtaki is a vibrant seaside town where Māori culture and language thrives.
ARTISTIC POLICY
Māoriland exists to uplift the perspectives and stories of Indigenous peoples.
Māoriland invites film, video, digital and interactive media work and artwork (all mediums) made by Indigenous creatives.
To be eligible for Māoriland an Indigenous creative must be credited in a key role such as director, producer or screenwriter.
The Indigenous creative must self-identify with and be recognised as an Indigenous person. Indigenous peoples are also known as Tangata Whenua, Aboriginal, Native, First Peoples or Tribal Peoples who belong to; or who have had an uninterrupted relationship with their land. This is distinct from those people who have arrived from another place to live in a country.
While a key creative involved in the project must be Indigenous, the issue or content of the film may be non-Indigenous. This recognises the diverse experiences, identities and perspectives of Indigenous people(s), worldwide.
Where the eligibility of a submitter is unclear, Māoriland will follow up with the submitter to clarify eligibility.
Māoriland prioritises work that:
- Innovates to present unique and new Indigenous perspectives
- Provides a portal to the Indigenous world for ALL peoples.
- Upholds the mana (respect for) and inspiration of our storytellers – guided by our elders and taught by our children.
- Respects our audience
- Relevance of work in regards to emerging themes and issues that shape our wider Indigenous experience.
Programmers may consider a limited number of works at its discretion where a work has been created with genuine and mutual participation from an Indigenous person or group of peoples. References and further background will be requested for works submitted under this category.
NGĀ POU O TE WHARE
Hou mai koe ki roto i te whare kōrero o Māoriland. Ko tōna tāhuhu ko te iwi, ko te poutāhu ko te mana o te kupu, ko te poutuarongo ko te ira tangata. Kei waenga ko te poutokomanawa o te aroha noa. Ka mutu, ko ngā pou koko ka titi iho ki te whenua ko ēnei:
We bid you entry into our house of stories. The ridgepole is the people, the front post is the authority of the word, the rear post is the essence of our humanity. Between them, we find the support pillar of love. The posts that anchor the corners to the land are these:
CELEBRATION
Māoriland celebrates the rise of indigenous cinema. It invites filmmakers from around the world to share their compelling big screen stories with us, and with each other.
INSPIRATION
Māoriland upholds the mana and inspiration of our storytellers. We are guided by our elders, and taught by our children. The festival assists our community to expand their perspectives and to connect with those from other cultures.
RESPECT
Māoriland is rooted in the traditions and language of the hapū and iwi of Ōtaki. It is our honour to extend manaakitanga to the many visitors to the festival.
INCLUSION
Māoriland provides a portal to the indigenous world for ALL people. It assists social cohesion, a sense of pride, and the informed well- being of our community.
TĀRIA TAKU MOKO MĀORI KI NGĀ KIRIATA O TE WĀ
EMBED MY NATIVE SOUL IN FILM
HISTORY OF THE MĀORILAND FILM FESTIVAL
2014
The first Māoriland office!The inaugural Māoriland Film Festival was held from March 26 -30, 2014 with 54 shorts, 9 feature films and kōrero with award-winning Māori filmmakers Taika Waititi and Dave Whitehead.
See the 2014 programme
1920s
Australian company Federated Feature Films Ltd propose a New Zealand branch to produce feature films. Mr Frank Moore visits on their behalf and suggests Ōtaki as a suitable place to establish a studio because of the town’s varied scenery and “potent actinic rays” (white light). The New Zealand Moving Picture Company (Māoriland Films) was established.
2013
Libby announces the first Māoriland Film Festival at imagineNATIVE in Toronto Canada, inviting filmmakers from across the world to Ōtaki the following March.
2015
In its second year, Māoriland focussed on building it’s audience. It was attended by 5,000 visitors including James Rolleston and Lawrence Makoare presenting the Māori language film, The Deadlands.
Highlights of the 2015 programme included Hautoa Ma! The Deadland’s, Sume; Sound of a Revolution and a spotlight on the films of Te Arawa.
MARCH 2017
Two weeks before the 2017 festival, MCT moves in to the Māoriland Hub – the largest building in Ōtaki’s Main Street.
2016
In 2016 the festival grew once more with 62 events including 18 feature films and 70 short films.
Highlights of the 2016 programme included Lee Tamahori’s (Ngāti Porou) MAHANA, free whānau screenings of BORN TO DANCE (dir. Tammy Davis, Ngāti Rangi, Atihaunui a Paparangi) and THREE WISE COUSINS (dir. Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa, Samoa) and award-winning North American features, LE DEP (dir. Sonia Boileau, Mohawk), MEKKO (dir. Sterlin Harjo, Seminole, Muscogee), CHASING THE LIGHT (dir. Blackhorse Lowe, Navajo) and FIRESONG (dir. Adam Garnet Jones, Cree, Métis)
2016 also saw the introduction of the NATIVE Slam – an international Indigenous collaboration challenge. Each year, in the days leading up to Māoriland Film Festival, Indigenous filmmakers team up in New Zealand to make a short film. A NATIVE Slam team is made up of one Māori filmmaker host and two international Indigenous filmmakers.
They have 72 hours and no budget. Since its inception in 2016 fifty one international Indigenous filmmakers have participated in the programme with seventeen short films created that have played in film festivals around the world.
MFF 2017
2017 PROGRAMME QUICK FACTS
- 121 Features, Shorts, Documentaries, Workshops, Kōrero and other special events over five days.
- 8 New Zealand premieres of multi-award-winning international Indigenous feature films.
- 100 films from 15 countries and 71 Indigenous nations
- 35 New Zealand films
- A majority of film and videos created by Indigenous female directors (60%)
- 9,500 visitors in attendance
In 2017 the festival awarded its first set of People’s Choice Awards. Audiences were asked to vote for their favourite films using an Emotiki voting system. The 2017 award winners were:
People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary: RISE; Standing Rock (dir. Michelle Latimer, Algonquin)
People’s Choice Award for Best Feature Film: TANNA (cultural dir. Jimmy Joseph Nako (Yakel Tribe), dir. Martin Butler, Bentley Dean)
People’s Choice Award for Short Film: BLACKBIRD (dir. Amie Batalibasi, Solomon Islander)
2018
The fifth annual Māoriland Film Festival was held from March 21 – 25, 2018.
MĀORILAND FILM FESTIVAL KEY FACTS & FIGURES:
- 58 Events to be held over five days.
- 15 feature films and 86 short films with filmmakers from 11 countries and 65 Indigenous nations – 102 films in total.
- 40 New Zealand films
- 10 New Zealand premieres of international films
- 12,500 visitors
2019
The sixth annual Māoriland Film Festival was held from March 20 – 24, 2019.
MFF hosts the NZ premiere of VAI to an audience of 850. Over 70% of the 2019 programme are film premieres (Southern or NZ) and feature a celebration of the Pacific and is attended by over 12,500 visitors. Toi Matarau, the Māori visual arts programme is launched along with the plans for NZ’s first filmmakers residency at Māoriland (to be opened at end of 2019).
MĀORILAND FILM FESTIVAL KEY FACTS & FIGURES:
- 62 Events held over five days.
- 21 feature films and 117 short films with filmmakers from 19 countries and 94 Indigenous nations – 138 films in total.
- 37 New Zealand films
- 18 New Zealand premieres of international films including 8 Southern Hemisphere premieres.
- 50% of programmed filmmakers identify as women.
- MFF2019 was attended by 12,000 visitors.
MFF2020
MFF2020 was disrupted by COVID-19 and remounted in September 2020. It was guided by the theme – Reretau – Everything in Harmony
