Hurt captured on film

Keeti Ngatai-Melbourne (centre) was in Te Araroa earlier this year to film the short film Te Huka o Te Tai. Picture supplied

Sharing the thoughts and feelings of the Te Araroa community where a barge facility has been proposed is the main purpose of the short film Te Huka o Te Tai.

Keeti Ngatai-Melbourne, 22, (Te Whānau a Hinerupe, Ngāti Porou) is from Te Araroa  and came up with the idea last year.

Te Huka o Te Tai was selected and commissioned through Someday Stories, an annual collection of six social and sustainability-focused short films made by Aotearoa’s emerging filmmakers.

“This is something we have been fighting against for the past decade. It’s been reported about in the news, but I wanted to capture what the news doesn’t — the heart of the community, the emotions the community is dealing with, and the hurt we have been going through for the last decade dealing with this kaupapa,” Keeti said.

The film showcases the haukainga (the home people) and their fight against the planned barge facility.

In the film, the Tuatara Group, which is made up of locals who are against the barge facility, share their story.

This includes Keeti’s mother, Kararaina Ngatai-Melbourne who has been speaking out against the plan.

“Being haukainga to Te Araroa, you want to protect the natural environment and that space. We are haukainga and fighting for our moana and whenua,” Keeti said.

Keeti works in Tamaki Makarau (Auckland) in the film and television industry as part of Māoriland films.

The short film is about 13 minutes long.

Keeti visited Te Araroa at the beginning of the year to film it. Since then they have been editing. The documentary was produced while the barge facility developers were pursuing a fast-tracked consent process.

Since filming, the consent application has been denied and funding from the Government has been cut, but the future of the project remains uncertain.

But Keeti hopes the story resonates with people and shows something many small Māori communities face.

“Thank you to my whānau, the Tuatara Group, and my hapori (community) of Te Araroa and Wharekahika for allowing me to tell our story.”

Te Huka o Te Tai will be released to the public online through Facebook, Instagram and YouTube today.

Someday Stories is produced by Connected Media with support from NZ On Air, Te Mangai Paho, and the New Zealand Film Commission in association with their screen partners, Stuff, Maori Television and RNZ.