Te Whanau O Aotearoa - Caretakers of the Land
Directors, Producers & Editors: Errol Wright & Abi King-Jones
Photography & Sound: Errol Wright
Type: Documentary Feature
Duration: 88 mins
Language: English
SYNOPSIS:
1 liner:
A Maori Rastafarian spearheads a group of homeless and landless, who establish a 'village of
peace' outside parliament to effect positive change. The police, public, press and politicians
close in.
50 words:
A Maori Rastafarian spearheads a group of homeless and landless - living on the streets of
Wellington, New Zealand - who establish a 'village of peace' outside parliament. The group
awaits an audience with the powers that be to effect positive change, whilst being set upon by
the police, public, press and politicians.
Full Synopsis:
This is the story of a
quest for peace, of a group of homeless and landless living on the
streets
of Wellington, New Zealand’s capital. The group goes by the
name Te Whanau o Aotearoa -
Caretakers of the Land and is spearheaded
by a dread-locked Maori Rastafarian who calls
himself ‘Brother’.
Brother,
having been expelled from Cuba Mall - his usual abode, relocates to the
Cenotaph -
the war memorial that flanks Parliament, to establish a
“village of peace".
Brother represents those who feel dispossessed
or cut off from Papatuanuku (Mother Earth),
who desire to reinstate
themselves as caretakers of the land. This he sees as being a solution
for crime and substance abuse prevalent amongst the misunderstood,
undervalued and
dissatisfied individuals who are at odds with 'the
system'.
In an effort to gain an audience with the government, he
and his street whanau (family) enter
into a waiting game, whilst being
set upon by the police, the press and riled politicians.
At 'home', Brother plays his music loud and shares his peace pipe round. Then the kickback
comes…
In the meantime, the message is getting out to the people and they are responding.
Against
the backdrop of fervent anti-war protests - along with the wedding
party portraits, school
field trip congregations and secret service
surveillance - the ragged-clothed Brother and his
whanau of outcasts
stand in sharp relief.
The threat of court proceedings hanging over
him, Brother awaits a time when merely being
alive is not a prison
sentence in itself.
REVIEW:
Graeme Tuckett – Capital Times
In
the spring of 2002, Errol Wright spent several months filming a group
of homeless and
landless that go by the name ‘Te Whanau o Aotearoa -
Caretakers of the Land’.
A dread-locked Maori Rastafarian who
calls himself ‘Brother’ spearheads the group. Brother,
having been
expelled from Cuba Mall - his usual abode, relocates to the Cenotaph -
the war
memorial that flanks Parliament, to establish a “village of
peace". In effort to gain an audience
with the government and get the
message out to the people, he and his street whanau enter
into a
waiting game, whilst being set upon by the police, the press and riled
politicians.
So says the press kit for ‘Te Whanau o Aotearoa’, and
it is an accurate, if modest, précis of
what this quite remarkable film
sets out to do.
Inspired in part by the award winning New York
independent doco feature ‘Dark Days’, which
examined the lives of a
group of homeless who had made a village underground in the service
ducts of a disused subway station, Errol Wright and Abi King-Jones have
made a film, and told
a story, that could hold it’s head up high in any
company.
‘Te Whanau o Aotearoa’ is a landmark in New Zealand
Documentary making. This is an
independent, and entirely self-funded,
film that sustains its drive and passion over the course
of 90 minutes.
Featuring
a cast of men who are familiar (at least in appearance) to anyone who
has spent time
in central Wellington in the past few years, the film
documents the succession of events and
decisions that saw them evicted
from Cuba St. and eventually relocate to a self declared marae
at the
base of the Cenotaph; practically on Parliaments front lawn, and
immediately below
Winston Peters office window…
The events that
follow – national media coverage, arrests, disputes, and sit-ins –
reach a level
of farce that would be comical were it not for the
bruised dignity of “Brother”, and the
earnestness (and occasional
credulity) of the filmmakers.
This film is honest, troubling, at
times very funny, and always absolutely compelling to watch.
It is an
essential piece of cinema, and a work (but not a story) that Wellington
should be proud
of.
FESTIVALS:
2003: Wellington International Film Festival - NZ
2004: Thessaloniki DocMark - GR
2004: The Doc Shop - CA
2004: Videotheque International Film Festival - CZ
2005: Kaiti Film Festival- NZ
2005: Wairoa Maori International Film Festival- NZ
.
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