Our Friend James
VAKA Productions | Film
Overview
OVERVIEW
Our Friend James tells the story of Alison and Becky, two Pākehā girls who dress offensively for a Halloween party hosted by their Polynesian friend Kahurangi. Our protagonist, Alison, knows this is wrong but thinks it's fine just for the night. After all, she has a brown friend right? Over-tanned, drunk, and dressed as Moana and Pocahontas, the girls come across an alluring colonial statue. Their seemingly benign and innocent adoration re-animates the statue, who then follows them to the party. The colonial figure (James Cook) is friendly and dim-witted at first, but hungry for fresh “brown” blood. What ensues is a game of cat-and-mouse.
At its core, Our Friend James is a satirical comedy horror, which on one hand is about white guilt and white embarrassment, but on the other hand about the ongoing effects of colonialism on indigenous peoples. It is a kaleidoscopic story of privilege, liberal racism, cultural appropriation and colonialism. For the two Pākehā characters this is just a matter of hours, but for Kahurangi it is something she lives with every day.
WHY THIS FILM
Our Friend James questions how we view friendship and allyship through an indigenous lens. It highlights the difference between being "not racist" and being anti-racist. In interrogating this, it also quashes a man, who for far too long has been taken seriously, and considered a hero.
Our Friend James is a bi-cultural story. Our protagonist is a Pākehā woman, working with a Polynesian woman to understand a cultural and societal problem. As a country, we like to hold ourselves in high regard when it comes to race relations. However, the reality is we have a long way to go and it takes everyone. Our Friend James details the indigenous experience at the hands of Pākehā society.
WHO IS INVOLVED?
Our Friend James is produced by a team of Master of Fine Arts (Creative Practice) students from Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington. This is the cumulative project of their year-long degree.
Director and Writer Georgia Ah Kuoi is receiving mentorship from Jess Charlton, Mata Freshwater, and Jade Jackson.
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED
Our Friend James is going into production during November. We are aiming to submit the film to Māoriland Film Festival 2022 among other local and international festivals.
We are looking for $2500 to go towards:
- Location hire
- Paying cast
- Production design
All donors will be kept updated throughout production and get an on-screen credit.
Donations made by NZ income earners qualify for a 33% tax credit from the IRD with a receipt provided by The Arts Foundation.
Please support us in reaching our goal and share this project with your communities.
Donors
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Kathleen Winter
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Jeremy Sauvao
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Claudia Holmstead-Morris
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Care Cleaning Services Lloyd
Project Updates
SKUXX! We hit over 50% over night!
Tēnā rawa atu koutou! A big thank you to all of our wonderful supporters thus far. Yesterday we saw an exciting surge of donations from 10 people and we're now over half-way funded. <3
Our director/writer Georgia Ah Kuoi has also been receiving some aroha from the media. Check out her awesome feature in Stuff News and on Tagata Pasifika's page.
Project Owner
