What made the win more significant was when Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo took the time to celebrate Taika Waititi's achievement by embracing him with a hongi.
What made the win more significant was when Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo took the time to celebrate Taika Waititi's achievement by embracing him with a hongi.
After New Zealand director and actor Taika Waititi's historic win at the Oscars, a special moment between himself and Mark Ruffalo managed to get hold of some of the limelight.
Waititi won the Academy Award for best-adapted screenplay for Jojo Rabbit at Sunday night's ceremony, dedicating it in his acceptancespeech to "all the indigenous kids in the world who want to do art, and dance, and do stories".
He and wife Chelsea Winstanley were the first Māori to be nominated as producers for Best Picture.
However, what made the win more significant, was when Hollywood actor Ruffalo took the time to celebrate Waititi's achievement by embracing him with a hongi.
So a Twitter user took the time to explain what a hongi is: "It's a traditional Māori greeting where one acknowledges and shares te hā (the breath of life) by touching noses," they wrote.
"I'm so proud and happy to see Māori culture practised openly and shared .. at the Oscars!!"
just so y'all know in the first 2 pics taika and mark are doing a hongi 🥺it's a traditional maori greeting where one acknowledges and shares te hā (the breath of life) by touching noses. i'm so proud and happy to see maori culture practiced openly and shared.. at the oscars!! https://t.co/gON2yR40pU
I’m so warmed by this open expression of culture and love shared between an extremely talented actor and an amazing director. I’m so glad that because of social media, we get to see this unapologetically in HD.
— Kristina supports #BlackLivesMatter (@kristinacarroll) February 12, 2020
And of course, Māoris and Kiwis were proud that Waititi had managed to share their culture with the rest of the world.
I'm a New Zealander and in my experience Maori people are thrilled when those of us from outside their communities engage and do our best to practice customs and gestures they use - so to see the hongi being respected, even as a non-Maori person, warms my heart a lot
