Kath Akuhata-Brown's debut film 'Kōkā' premieres in Northland. The film follows Māori elder Hamo and a troubled young woman, Jo, on a transformative road trip.
Kath Akuhata-Brown's debut film 'Kōkā' premieres in Northland. The film follows Māori elder Hamo and a troubled young woman, Jo, on a transformative road trip.
A Māori story set against the backdrop of Matariki is about to make its mark in Northland.
Directed by Okaihau’s Kath Akuhata-Brown (Ngāti Porou), the film is a journey of pain, healing and hope.
Kōkā is set under the guiding stars of Matariki and follows aMāori elder, Hamo, and a troubled young woman, Jo, on a transformative road trip.
The film is Akuhata-Brown’s debut feature and draws from her own whakapapa and life experiences.
It blends intergenerational storytelling with a distinct Māori worldview.
On June 19 Kōkā will be released at the Cathay Cinema, in Kerikeri, with a special Q&A session with Akuhata-Brown.
“I actually started writing this film 20 years ago. Back then I wanted to tell a story that spoke to my love for my whānau, hapū and iwi.
“There’s a certain depth of loyalty in families and certainly in my whānau as well. No matter where you are in the world, they will come when needed. This is one of the things I wanted to articulate in the film.”
Kath Akuhata-Brown’s debut feature explores themes of pain and healing.
She said the writing process was a hard one, but fulfilling work as she was juggling being a single parent working fulltime while trying to write the non-linear and visually layered script.
“Most of what is on screen has come from my own experiences of the world. It’s impossible to tell a story with any truthful resonance without pulling from one’s own life.
“The elder in the film, Kōkā Hamo is a part of who I am as a daughter of Ngati Porou and represents the reconciliatory journey we all must eventually take . Jo is part of our community that for whatever reason lives in the cracks of our society. And, it’s in those cracks that she has found a new type of whānau.”
She said at its very heart Kōkā is about connection.
“Our eternal connection to ancestors, land, water and each other. In showing this connection, we must also show the fragility of it and how easy it is to become disconnected.
“Connectivity must be fought for and strengthened. I love that the film is being launched from Te Tai Tokerau where I now live and I hope that it reaches the furthest reaches of Aotearoa and beyond.”
The film explores themes of healing, community, and reconciliation, all under the celestial guidance of Matariki.
She said she was grateful to her writing team and elders at her home marae in Ngāti Porou who helped finesse the dialect as it brought extra layers and cultural integrity to the project.
“Our stories are merely a manifestation of who we are. I am a Māori writer raised in a very Māori community so it’s inevitable that this film and the process of it was from a Māori worldview.”
She said she cannot wait to introduce the film to audiences and was grateful that cinemas like Cathay were supportive of local content.
Cathay Cinemas owner Ross Churchouse said he has always been a big supporter of the local film scene and when it was presented to him, he knew it was one Cathay needed to support.
“It’s important to not just support the efforts of our educators and iwi across NZ who have integrated and normalised the language into our schools over the last few decades, but also to support our growing bilingual community with big screen entertainment options.”
He said that there was a growing interest in local and culturally significant films among audiences, and added.
“The cinema has been part of the community for almost 90 years but it’s only been telling indigenous stories for probably a third of that time.
“But in the past we are starting to see more and more local film makers creating. My hope is that moving forward we see more films made by local film makers hitting our screens in 2026 and beyond.”
He said the cinema has plans to bring more Māori films and they are currently working on securing the re-release of the Shrek film that was converted to te reo.
