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Whakatiki
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About Whakatiki
Synopsis u0026#038; Logline
Log Line A day at the river unexpectedly awakens the spirit of a woman held captive by years of broken promises. [caption id=u0022attachment_39u0022 align=u0022aligncenteru0022 width=u0022199u0022 caption=u0022Mabelle Dennison as Kiri in Whakatikiu0022][/caption] Synopsis Kiwi, an overweight Maori woman, takes a trip to the Whakatiki River where she spent to many summers as a girl. With her goes her husband Dan, his friend Seb and Seb’s newly arrived and beautiful cousin, Josie. The place awakens powerful memories for Kiri, and as tensions mount and the facade of Kiri and Dan’s relationshp rapidly crumbles, Kiri is drawn to an unexpected outcome. [caption id=u0022attachment_36u0022 align=u0022aligncenteru0022 width=u0022283u0022 caption=u0022Alyssa Mataiti as young Kiri in Whakatikiu0022][/caption]
Filmmaker Biographies
Louise Leitch – Director Louise grew up in Australia and graduated from Canberra University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media. At the age of 23 Louise was running an in-house production unit for the Australian Commonwealth Government directing drama and factual programs on issues such as child care, homelessness, disabilities, Aboriginal health and community services for rural and outback settlements. Her programs won national and international awards. “It was a fantastic training ground and it cemented two things for me – one, I loved making drama and was determined to make it my life’s work, and two, I loved making films that mattered.” From here, Louise embarked on a successful television drama directing career. She helmed close to 200 episodes of some of Australia’s most iconic dramas such as Home u0026#038; Away and Breakers. While television drama is a fantastic discipline, Louise hankered to make projects for the big screen, so when love beckoned from across the Tasman, Louise was not entirely unhappy about walking away from her Australian television career. The move to New Zealand has been the impetus to act on her passion for film and she has been proactive in creating opportunities and forging…
Director’s Notes
On What Attracted Me To The Film Whakatiki’s themes are powerful and universal, yet at the same time the story is firmly rooted in New Zealand and the characters are all Maori. I met and worked with a lot of Kiwi’s in Sydney, but before moving to New Zealand I didn’t know much about Maori culture. Whakatiki combined my passion for strong narrative with a desire to learn more about Maori culture – relationships and responsibilities within whanau (family), beliefs and values, traditions versus modern day pressures, connectedness to place and past. All relevant to Kiri’s story and how I chose to tell it. The cast were a huge resource in my developing knowledge and I am grateful to them for the generosity they showed me. [caption id=u0022attachment_37u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022198u0022 caption=u0022Alyssa Mataiti in Whakatikiu0022][/caption] From the outset I felt a strong sense of responsibility to Kiri and her story. I wanted to do it justice. I wanted to create an intimate, authentic portrayal of a woman held captive, as much by herself, as by her external circumstances. Within the constraints of the short film medium my challenge was to create a believable set of characters with a sense of history…
Producer’s Notes
Bernadette maintains that Whakatiki has a way of attracting the right people at the right time and this has been borne out on several occasions, including Louise’s and my introduction to the project. Bernadette wrote the script but didn’t know who she could trust it to, so it sat in her bottom drawer for two years before she decided to enter it in the Screen Canterbury pitching competition. She won runner-up at that event, but perhaps more significantly, Bernadette was introduced to Louise by one of the judges. At last, a possible director for her project. After a couple of long sessions over coffee and chamomile tea, the pair decided they could work together and went full steam ahead developing Whakatiki for the New Zealand Film Commission’s prestigious Executive Shorts Funding Scheme. Whakatiki was shortlisted by this Scheme in 2008 (one of nine projects from 212 applications) but not green lit. Undeterred, Louise and Bernadette submitted the film the following year to the Independent Filmmakers Fund (a joint initiative between Creative New Zealand and the New Zealand Film Commission) and found success! [caption id=u0022attachment_92u0022 align=u0022alignleftu0022 width=u0022600u0022 caption=u0022Director of Photography, Martyn Williams, on location in the Upper Hutt, Wellington, NZu0022][/caption] At this…
Writer’s Notes
Whakatiki – What’s In A Name? Whakatiki (pronounced fa-ka-tickee) is a Maori word. The film is named after the Whakatiki river in which I spent so many summers as a girl. I knew that river intimately. I knew where it tripped lightly over sun-filled shallows and where it sucked down deep in a whirlpool to the darkness below, where eels waited to bite my toes. I knew its smell and I knew its sound, below the surface. And it knew me, from my very insides out. It filled my ears and nose and I swallowed it and absorbed it through the pores of my skin. Something like that – and the sense of belonging and oneness it brings – never leaves you. Even if you leave it. And my memories of this undoubtedly created the intensely lush and tactile images of Whakatiki. It wasn’t until some time after I’d written the script that I made the discovery that Whakatiki means ‘to rise up’ or ‘to lift with enthusiasm.’ It was the summary of not only Kiri’s fierce inner struggle and ultimate break to freedom, but mine. Despite our physical differences, there were distinct similarities between Kiri and me. This was…
Credits
Kiri Mabelle Dennison Husband Dan Jim Moriarty Seb Jason Te Kare Josie Stephanie Matuku Boy Christian Dennison Young Kiri Alyssa Mataiti Matt Daarian River Extras Dylan, Nathan,Tyronne, Harley – Te Rakau Trust, Krystal Meyrick, Ariana McCormack, Clarisse Harman Director Louise Leitch Producer Melissa Dodds Writer/Co-Producer Bernadette Murphy Director of Photography Martyn Williams Editor Lala Rolls Sound Designer Ray Beentjes Music Composer Tom McLeod Score Supervisor Sarah Lineham Featured Musicians Sarah Lineham – vocals Nick Granville – guitars Tom McLeod – ukuleles Opening Title Brendan Dee Sound Recordist Ken Saville Boom Operator Joe Fraser First AD Jules Lovelock Script Supervisor Pete Wellington Production Assist/3rd AD Tom Kelly Casting Tina Cleary St Joseph’s School, Upper Hutt Angela and Paul Murphy Art Director Nicole Spackman Art Assist David Hewitt Tom Southall Make Up/Wardrobe Supervisor Kate Trafford Make Up Assist Azure Ellis Wardrobe Standby Alex Boyd Wardrobe Assist Cam Putt Jessica Murphy Focus Puller Graham MacFarlane 2nd Camera Assist/Stills Tammy Williams 3rd Camera/Lx Assist Simon Oliver Gaffer/Grip Byron Sparrow Gaffer Adrian Hebron Lighting/Grip Assist Chris Murphy Lighting Assist Hansel Verkerk Unit Location Manager Gabriel Page Unit Assistants Akira, Jarian Safety Officer Brent Sylvester Runners Heather Cottam Melanie Murphy Emma Murphy Chaperones Tania Milne Pare-Kotuku…
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Contact
Floodlight Film Productions Ltd PO Box 15467 Miramar Wellington 6023 New Zealand 64 4 387 8754 or 64 272 224 082 [contactbuddy]
Press Kit
Mabelle Dennison in Whakatiki
