The largest Indigenous film fest in the Southern Hemisphere returns in March with a stacked programme.
Taking place in Ōtaki from March 15 – 19, the Māoriland Film Festival has announced its programme for 2023. The festival celebrates its tenth anniversary championing Indigenous films from around the world with a 2023 lineup boasting over 140 titles from 150 Indigenous Nations.
The eight kiriata (feature films) announced this week include two Aotearoa New Zealand premieres – Inuit/Canadian sci-fi/horror Slash/Back and Yakutia/Russian drama Youth. Other kiriata include Mi’kmaw/Canadian drama Wildhood, Canadian Indigenous comedy-drama Rosie, Rapa Nui historical drama Patu La Leyenda, Hawaiian Indigenous drama Ka Pō, Cree/Canadian thriller Broken Angel and multi-generational Cree/Canadian drama Bones of Crows.
Pakipumeka (documentaries) playing at the Māoriland Film Festival include the first episode of Barry Barclay’s landmark 1974 TV series Tangata Whenua, restored by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Also screening: Yindjibarndi/Australian art documentary Marni, Canadian Indigenous music doco Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry it On, Persian exploration of gender roles Destiny, and Canadian POV doco Kaatohkitopii: The Horse He Never Rode.
And more than one hundred kiriata poto (short films) from around the world play in a variety of collections. With way too many to list here, check the Māoriland Film Festival website for more details – and for ticketing and screening info on the whole programme.
Here’s more info from the official press release:
“This year, the Māoriland Film Festival (MFF) celebrates a decade of Indigenous storytelling in Aotearoa and presents the largest showcase in the festival’s history.
For the tenth anniversary, MFF will present over 140 short and feature films from 150 Indigenous Nations across five days (15th – 19th March 2023) in Ōtaki.
MFF director Libby Hakaraia says the ten year anniversary coincides with the festival becoming the largest international Indigenous film festival in the world.
“This year’s festival marks a milestone for Indigenous storytelling in Aotearoa. ‘Mā mua e kē anō ai mā muri – We look to the past so the future may be different’ is a fitting theme for our 2023 programme” says Libby.
“We started the Māoriland Film Festival in 2014 as a small whānau group of filmmakers, lawnmower contractors and a health sciences graduate. as a platform for Indigenous film and filmmakers. Since then it has presented over 2,000 Indigenous film, hosted hundreds of national and international filmmakers and brought more than double the population of Ōtaki to watch films over the 5 days (12000+ people). “
“We have built the MFF with our community to become a must attend event for Indigenous filmmakers from all over the world, as well as for festival directors and industry professionals. It’s gratifying to have them tell us that Māoriland is culturally unique, relevant and memorable.”
In addition to an extensive film programme, the MFF2023 features the 10th anniversary of the E Tū Whānau Rangatahi Film Awards, VR, XR, AR, and Gaming technology, screen industry events, NATIVE Minds lecture series hosted by Tainui Stephens, stunning exhibitions at the Toi Matarau gallery and the carving of the Māoriland pou (posts) by Te Matatoki carvers, the 2023 Māoriland artists in residence.”
