DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/SCREENPLAY: Merata Mita
PRODUCTION CO: Awatea Films, New Zealand Film Commission, Radio Hauraki
PHOTOGRAPHY: Graeme Cowley
EDITOR: Nicholas Beauman
MUSIC: Hirini Melbourne, Amokura
WITH: Anzac Wallace (Rewi Rapana), Eva Rickard (Kara), James Heyward (Steve), Susan D. Ramari Paul (Ramari), Sonny Waru (Hemi), Rangimarie Delamere (Awatea), Willie Raana (Willie Rapana), Geoff Murphy (Mr Semmens), Don Selwyn (old cop), Temuera Morrison (young cop), Ana Hine Aro Kura Thrupp (Hinemoa), Anthony Angell (Tawa)

REVIEWS

“When she made Mauri, Merata Mita became the first Māori woman to write and direct a dramatic feature. Mauri (meaning life force), is loosely set around a love triangle and explores cultural tensions, identity, and changing ways of life in a dwindling East Coast town. As with Barry Barclay film Ngāti, Mauri played a key role in the burgeoning Māori screen industry. The crew numbered 33 Māori and 20 Pākehā, including interns from Hawkes Bay wānanga. Kiwi art icon Ralph Hotere was production designer; the cast included Zac Wallace (star of Utu) and Māori activist Eva Rickard.”

— NZ On Screen

“There are passages in Mauri that are more passionate in their feeling than anything else in New Zealand cinema. The emotion is so raw at times that it doesn’t seem ready for public consumption. It’s embarrassing and the actors tackle it head-on. Other sequences have a satisfying dramatic fullness. The ending is breathtaking… Mauri is a rich brew, not a smooth one. Even at its most frenzied, it is easily the most interesting feature made in New Zealand this year and an imposing statement of elemental female power.”

— Bill Gosden, Wellington Film Festival 1988

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Dunedin  
Wednesday, 24 March, 7:30pm

Timaru  
Monday, 12 April, 6:00pm

Westport  
Wednesday, 12 May, time tbc  DCP

Canterbury  
Monday, 24 May,7.00pm

Auckland  
Monday, 31 May, 6:15pm  DCP
Open to the public – members free,
public tickets $10  (AFS only)

Palmerston North  
Wednesday, 2 June, 6:00pm

Nelson  
Tuesday, 15 June, 6:00pm  DCP

Whanganui  
Monday, 21 June, 7.00pm

Wellington  
Monday, 5 July, 6:15pm  DCP

Hamilton  
Monday, 5 July, 7:30pm
NZ FILM selection >>