Te Mahara Tamehana's latest film Street Lights hopes to shine a light on social issues that impact rangatahi in Te Tai Tokerau. Photo / Supplied
Te Mahara Tamehana's latest film Street Lights hopes to shine a light on social issues that impact rangatahi in Te Tai Tokerau. Photo / Supplied
Young filmmaker Te Mahara Tamehana isn't afraid to shine a light on social issues impacting his hometown in the Far North.
The Kaitāia 18-year-old, of Ngāti Hine descent, is producing his first professional short film Street Lights, a story that deals with topics such as drugs, abuse, toxic masculinity andmental health from the perspective of rangatahi in Te Tai Tokerau.
Tamehana said the 17-minute film will be dedicated to a close friend lost to a violent act last year "to bring awareness to the daily struggle for many of us rangatahi in Te Tai Tokerau".
"It feels like we're not acknowledging all the stuff that happens in the community, that people choose to forget about.
"It's like a band-aid, once you rip it off, you feel that pain, but it also gives it a chance to heal.
With no hope and nowhere to go, he turns to the last person he thought he would ever go to - his father.
Working alongside youth workers, social workers and others from around Kaitāia, Tamehana found individual stories that contributed to Street Lights.
While the overall story is one of redemption, forgiveness and love, he wants to acknowledge the truth; that drug and alcohol addictions give rise to many problems in the community.
"This is happening all around, especially up here in the Far North.
"It's like walking around with this stuff happening, and no one talks about it. We need to be able to tell these stories.
"Once people see these stories on the big screen, once we show this to a general audience, then they can't say 'I didn't know this was going on'."
Tamehana expects to start shooting at the end of February. He plans to cast locals as the two main characters, along with other roles and extras.
The film will screen at the Māoriland Film Festival in March 2022.
Tamehana became involved in film aged 14 while at school and never looked back.
"A mate was living with us at the time, and one day mum gave us an ultimatum whether we wanted to cut wood that weekend or go to a film workshop.
"We were both feeling lazy so we went to the film workshop.
"I showed up and I loved it. I loved the creative spaces they gave us, they gave us a pad and a pen and said 'okay write your film'.
"I put all my ideas down on that paper. It's like I found a more healthy way to express myself.
"It was like a breath of fresh air."
Visiting Los Angeles as part of a trip to Toronto for the screening of his debut film Bub was "pretty crazy" for Mahara. Photo / Supplied
Tamehana went on to co-write and direct the short film Bub with Oriwa Hakaraia, which screened at the ImagineNative Film and Media Arts Festival in Toronto in 2019.
The trip - which included a stopover at Los Angeles – was mind-blowing for the then 16-year-olds.
"One week I'm walking around Kaitāia and the week after I'm in Toronto and LA with the highest buildings in the world. It was crazy."
Tamehana is working as an intern at Te Hiku media, producing video stories for the Haukianga team.
Street Lights is one of eight films being produced as part of Māoriland Charitable Trust's Ngā Pakiaka youth leadership programme, which was developed to support rangatahi filmmakers to produce their first professional short films.
With support from the New Zealand Film Commission, Māoriland will help partially fund the films.
The filmmakers are running Boosted campaigns to enable them to hire expensive camera equipment, crew and post-production facilities.
As for the future, Tamehana wants to draw on the history of Te Tai Tokerau for his stories, "whether it be Dame Whina Cooper walking from Te Hapua all the way to Parliament, the Battle of Ruapekapeka Pā or the New Zealand Wars in general".
"I want more Far North on the big screen, and to get more rangitahi involved. I want to put the Far North on the map."
