Kiwi film stars homegrown talent

LOCAL TALENT: (L-R) Waru actress Acacia Hapi of Hastings is the lead role in one of the film's segments written and directed by Paula Jones, also of Hastings. Photo/Duncan Brown.

In an emotional and gripping film a Hastings actress has captured the hearts of cinema goers around the world in her debut acting role.

Acacia Hapi never planned on an acting career but found herself starring in a lead role in the New Zealand drama film, Waru.

Screening at Focal Point Cinema in Hastings, the film offers its audience a powerful and challenging narrative that unfolds around the tangi of a small boy who dies at the hands of his caregiver.

The 19-year-old plays Mere, a character written by Hastings film director Paula Jones, who feels responsible for Waru's death and takes a stand against his caregivers.

"I felt powerful in a way and it's got a lot of people talking. All my friends are talking about how this is an actual issue and how these things do happen. It's good that I am part of something so they can see that."

The actress went to Karamu High School before studying nursing at EIT and working in hospitality, aged care and office administration.

"I'd done drama at Karamu but acting wasn't really a career that I was planning on choosing, but I'm loving it. It's definitely awesome, especially the people you meet.

"It was so different to anything I've ever done. It's indescribable. The day I went there everyone treated me like I was basically family. It was cool."

More than 150 family members packed out a private screening earlier this week and Ms Hapi said it was surreal to see herself on the screen.

She said she had her director, Ms Jones, to thank for helping her understand and envelop the character so well.

"The first day we met I felt like I had known her for years and years. She kind of put Mere in me and I think that's why I pulled it off. She'd gone into so much detail about Mere and her story. She's awesome at what she does."

Ms Jones said her star actress was "just magic", going so far as to quickly learn te reo for the role, and was looking forward to watching her progress in her acting career.

"The whole experience with the actors, for me, made my job a whole lot easier. It was the first film I've ever made, I've made documentaries around social issues before, but this was the first time I could write the ending."

Ms Jones was one of eight Maori female directors who each contributed a film sequence portraying a different perspective on the film's centrepiece, Waru's death.

Paralysed by idiopathic transverse myelitis nearly eight years ago, she was grateful for the opportunity film producers Kerry Warkia and Kiel McNaughton gave her and for the special all-terrain wheelchair she was able to use during filming.

"That's the thing I was stressed about the most was actually being able to move around. I'm very grateful it allowed me more mobility. It alleviated a lot of my fears."

With no previous acting experience, Ms Hapi said she had already been cast for another film to be shot in November, having signed with Auckland agency Gail Cowan Management.

Also starring in the film was Antonio Te Maioha of Hawke's Bay, playing Tapu, who went to Havelock High School and Taikura Rudolf Steiner School.

The film will be played at Focal Point Cinemas in Hastings at 8.30pm today, 6.10pm Sunday and 1pm Monday. For more information visit hastings.focalpointcinema.co.nz.​