28 Jan 09

The following is a letter I recently wrote and personally delivered to the main Maori organizations in Whangarei for tautoko for my movie Te Whakapouri. I have had one positive response thus far from Ms. Karen Sidney, a professional Maori writer, director and producer. She has given her full support, by stating she will offer what advice she can, plus, she will introduce me to those who may be able to assist. Feel free to read the letter in detail:

Mr. Penehanmine Netana-Patuawa
37 Westend Ave
Whangarei
Mobile 021 0295 4710
Website http://www.tanatu.co.nz/
Email tanatuproductions@yahoo.co.nz

Tena koe:

RE MAORI FEATURE FILM

I write this letter to you, in all sincerity and truth. I ask only that you read it with a open ngakau me wairua (heart and spirit). I write to you as one Maori to another...nga tangata whenua o te Tai Tokerau.

We all have dreams, do we not? And when I say dreams, I do not mean the dreams that we have when we are asleep, but those that we have when we are awake. Yet, for many of us, our dreams have been desecrated, demeaned, destroyed by the realities of life. Remember the time when you were a child? Remember your dreams? As children we believed with an open heart that they would come true, yet for most of us, except the lucky few, they did not. Where we to blame? Sometimes, yes, through the choices we made, but sometimes it was also external forces beyond our control, which destroyed our hopes and dreams. But it does not matter how or why they were destroyed, they were. But, life being life, new dreams are always being born, and come true, if we choose to follow them, with all our heart, mind and soul.

Many of my dreams have become wrecked and ravaged by the effects of tide and time and life. But, now I have a new dream. And what is that dream? It is to film and direct a feature film I have written called Te Whakapouri and create the Tai Tokerau’s first ever Maori feature film. The film is about Tana Tu, a Maori warrior prophet, who rises to greatness, but is undone by the sin of jealousy. It is a powerful film script, with elements of jealousy, war, love, miracles etc (For a full synopsis, please visit my website http://www.tanatu.co.nz/ and go to the movie link). If you want to read the full script, please contact me and I will send it via email.

However, I know that to turn this dream into reality is going to take a great deal of determination and persistence and hard work. Not just a little bit, but immense hard work, because if you have a big dream, you have to put in the huge effort that is required to make it work. And I am prepared to do that. I am prepared to stay the course, until the dream becomes reality. My other dreams have fallen by the wayside, but, not this dream, no; this one is going to come true.

So I am writing this letter to you, to ask for your tautoko to help me make my film. Whether you help me as an iwi, hapu, roopu or individual, is up to you. All I ask is for your tautoko. And the tautoko I am after can come in many different ways. Advice, financial, use of resources, you (your roopu, hapu, iwi) coming on board, or whatever other support you would like to give. I also ask that you do not just read this, and then ignore it completely. No, I ask that you at least look at my website http://www.tanatu.co.nz/ (go to the movie link) and also respond to me. That is all I ask. After all, if Peter Jackson wrote to you about a film he is directing, would you not at least reply to him? And do I not have the same mana as him?

But even better, I would like your tautoko. Yes, tautoko is what I desire. I desire nga tangata whenua o Tai Tokerau, to tautoko me. For nearly one year now I have carried this burden by myself. I have had many obstacles (internal and external) to overcome. I have often felt disheartened and discouraged, but, i roto i toku ngakau me wairua, I have continued to believe in the power of my dream. I have gone through the official channels, Aho Whakaari, Film Commission etc. But, they are not interested, saying it is not ‘right’. But, that is their opinion. They said the same thing about Once were Warriors! So I am not listening to the critics, to the so called experts, to the naysayers and the dream stealer's, I am listening to the inner mana of my wairua, which tells me my film would be, should be, must be created. It must be created so I can tell the story of the struggle of our people to the world. So they can know of the great warrior prophets who led the resistance against the tauiwi.

Since I first began this hikoi, I have, through my own initiative, done many things to get tautoko for what I am doing. I have created my website, with a link to my film, put things onto ‘The Big Idea’, a creative communities site. I have also put something on You Tube (Which is on my website), plus communicated with the Film Commission etc. From all of this, I have had a number of responses from people in the film industry. A number of whom have read my script and said it was extremely powerful. However, their tautoko has been limited, as they either live in Auckland, Wellington, or even overseas! So our korero has mainly been through emails etc. None of them have been able to help financially. From these people, there are three who have shown 100% tautoko and have agreed to come on board 100% if/when some financing is available. The three are Grant, Top and Jan (I will only give their last names if you ask and they allow it, just for privacy reasons). Grant is a professional actor – Maori. He lives in Auckland. Top is a production manager/1st assistant director – Maori. She lives in Wellington. Jan is a professional cinematographer – German. He is currently in South Africa, but coming back to Aotearoa soon. I have only met Jan (before he went to South Africa for holiday) the once at the Whangarei library, when we went over the trailer for the film.

With their collaboration (and hopefully yours) my next immediate step is to make a professional three minute trailer. Now, you would have seen the trailers for movies right? Well, the reason for a trailer is to ‘capture’ the audience’s attention. Normally a trailer is made after the movie has been finished. But, it is increasingly common nowadays for film-makers to make a trailer in order to attract potential investors. For a trailer, with good little ‘snippets’ of the film, is able to show potential investors the possibilities for the movie. Now in order to make the trailer, I am going to need tautoko from you. The cost to make a simple 3 min professional trailer is considerable. However, the costs can be drastically reduced, if I am able to get support from nga tangata whenua o Tai Tokerau. For example, if I can get the actors etc to give their time for free (or a greatly reduced cost) this will halve the costs. If I can get sponsors for the costumes too, this will greatly cut costs and so on and on. However, there are some things that are a fixed price, like the camera (about $7,500 for the seven days needed for the shoot!).

Anyway, I realize that you have your own things that you have to do and that your life is taken up with your work and family etc, and that what I am saying may not even interest you in the slightest. It may also be that you cannot see the financial/business advantages of supporting my film. So there are all these reasons why you may not even be interested. But, all I ask is for you to also think of the possibilities and potential for not only the rangatahi but all of our people here in the Tai Tokerau. When this movie is made, our people are going to benefit. In every aspect of the movie, they will be employed first and foremost, before anyone else. This will be our movie. Not a tauiwi movie. The only time tauiwi will be used, is if it is absolutely essential. So, this is your opportunity, and the opportunity of your ropu, hapu, iwi to tautoko the production of Te Whakapouri. Also, even though there is risk in a feature film, if marketed properly, it has as good as any other business enterprise to succeed (I am working out the financial aspects of the movie, which will be fully prepared, once the trailer is completed and I try to get potential overseas investors on board. This is a very lengthy and time consuming part of the film).

So, how can you tautoko me and what I am trying to achieve in a practical way? Well, the first thing I would like to do, before anything else, is to form a ropu specifically for this project. You do not have to have any experience in the industry, just a passion to come on board and make this happen. Ideally I would like to try and form a ropu of 3-5 people from around Whangarei so we can meet on a regular basis (once a month). Secondly, I would like to ask if you have an office space I could utilize part-time, so I can fully focus on what I am doing. Also, if you have a spare computer, hooked up to the internet, and a local land line I can use, this would be appreciated (not asking for much!). But yes, this is just so I can fully focus on the mahi that is required. Thirdly, if you have any putea available to help me in what I am doing. Now, I am after two types of putea. The first is for the day to day running of things, admin, gas etc. The second is a more significant putea to fund the making of the trailer. I realize that may sound cheeky asking for cash straight up, but the reality is, I have been funding this by myself for nearly a year now with no financial help whatsoever, and in order for it to progress to a new level, I need financial assistance. In other words, cash, cold hard cash.

Finally. You have heard all my words. They have all been the truth. If you desire to korero with me, than please simply contact me. Kia-ora.

Naku noa

Na
Mr. Penehamine Neatana-Patuawa
Film-maker.