A film based on one of New Zealand's most successful Māori songs will have its World Premiere screening at Auckland's Civic Theatre on the 14th of July.
Poi E: The Story of Our Song written and directed by Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion), takes an in- depth look at the creation of one of the few Te Reo Māori songs to hit Number One on the New Zealand music charts.
The song was composed by Ngoingoi Pewhairangi and Dalvanius Prime in 1984.
Poi E: The Story of Our Song outlines the hard-scrabble context from which the song was born and the relationships which shaped the song and propelled it forward.
Tearepa Kahi's career includes the 2013 NZ box office success Mt. Zion starring Stan Walker. He is also a current member of the NZ Film Festival Trust board.
The NZIFF has also announced the film will screen on the opening night of the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) in Wellington on Friday 22 July, Christchurch on Thursday 28 July and Dunedin on Thursday 4 August.
NZIFF Director Bill Gosden says, "As irresistible as the song it celebrates, Kahi's documentary explores the many tributaries that flowed into the mashup of pop music, traditional waiata and bop that first took New Zealand by storm in 1984. The film, told largely in Dalvanius' own words, is brimful of music and frank and funny testimony from numerous participants in the song's richly peopled history. Taking a lesson from the man himself, Kahi draws the next generation into the story, ably assisted by Taika Waititi, who provides Stan Walker, aged 25, with essential information about what life was like before Poi E."
The full NZIFF Auckland programme will be available from Tuesday 21 June and tickets on sale from Friday 24 June . The full NZIFF Wellington programme will be available from Friday 24 June.