default-output-block.skip-main
National | Arts

Native Affairs - Māoriwood

Kiwi film director Lee Tamahori says that being Māori won’t make the cut in Hollywood.

"Those who hire people like myself and Taika overseas don't see us as Māori filmmakers," says Tamahori, who made his mark in Hollywood after directing the Kiwi classic Once Were Warriors.

“They see us as filmmakers with a certain style or a class, an ability, a talent, that they can use to their advantage. Being Māori doesn’t really enter into it. Oddly, that’s the way it should be.”

Tamahori made the comments to Native Affairs at a recent filmmaking workshop he facilitated in Auckland that was organised by Ngā Aho Whakaari.

Young filmmaker Todd Karehana attended Tamahori’s session and says the international director was inspiring. He hopes to have an international career just like Tamahori.

“I’m inspired by the way Lee Tamahori tells his stories. Some of the most heartbreaking moments of Māori cinema have come from his films,” says Karehana.

Karehana (30) has recently finished his fourth film, My Brother Mitchell, which he made as part of his master's thesis at Auckland University. His previous films have won awards and he hopes My Brother Mitchell will be just as successful. It's a personal story based on a family tragedy.

“When I was ten years old my brother Mitchell passed away from an accident. I don’t think I dealt with his passing, I’m starting to but it’s been twenty years. I’ve told myself that everything was okay but through making this film I realised I hadn’t processed his passing.”

Karehana finished the short film last week and will be submitting it to international festivals. Karehana says he is excited about his future in filmmaking.

“I haven’t felt so passionate about something in my life as I have about storytelling and filmmaking,” he says.