Taupō Hau Rau short film

Taupō Hau Rau is a short film grounded in ancestral kōrero from Ngāti Tūwharetoa, honouring the wisdom of kaumātua Napa Otimi through dance, sound, and storytelling. As both an archival and cultural revitalisation project, it preserves a deeply personal and place-based narrative while inspiring future Māori artistic practice.

Our creative practice is whānau-centred, involving our awesome mum, my daughters, my wife, and a close circle of artist friends and collaborators who share the same kaupapa Māori approach—including filmmaker Corinna Hunziker, taonga pūoro brother James Webster, composer Shayne P. Carter, and many other Tūwharetoa creatives who work alongside us in  uplifting our Tūwharetoatanga through the arts. Tūwharetoa maranga ra! 

All funding will go directly to:

• Our kaumatua as koha
• To our filmmaker
• Resources to support the filming
• Funds to go toward the editing process 
• A small koha to our soundscore whanau.  

Our project will take us directly to Taupō to interview and film our kaumatua including our koro Napa Otimi , my mother Jane ( Heeni) and others who are happy to share their mātauranga of Taupō—wisdom that we hope will inspire future contemporary artists and creative works across the central North Island. This kaupapa speaks to all creatives who hail from this rohe and is a humble contribution to that wider movement. As a creator, I know I’ll benefit hugely from this process—and truly believe it’s something my kuia would have loved seeing unfold.

This knowledge must be captured now to empower the next generation to stand strong in their Tūwharetoatanga and support other artists across Aotearoa who work from a cultural lens, ensuring a vibrant future for contemporary Māori arts in the central North Island and across the motu.