Sir Hek Busby documentary Whetū Mārama - Bright Star 'retells history'

Sir Hek Busby's waka Te Aurere under sail

It seems prudent to wonder how this moment in time will be written in history, with the recent inaugural Matariki public holiday and an important documentary being released.

The cinema at Te Ahu was at capacity for a Q&A and screening of the new film about Sir Hek Busby's transformational kaupapa.

Whetū Mārama - Bright Star is the story of Sir Hekenukumai Ngaiwi Puhipi (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu), the world-renowned waka builder and Master Navigator from Pukepoto, and his significance to the Māori world and all New Zealanders.

One audience member at the event last Wednesday said the film effectively debunked anthropologists.

"In one fell swoop, you've managed to retell our history," he said.

"It's an important piece of work for our curriculums, and for the country. It's very relatable for everyone."

Co-directors Toby Mills and Aileen O'Sullivan, pictured at Te Ahu Kaitaia, said the film's ultimate underlying focus is the story of a culture that understands an inner compass. Photo / Ben Knight

Co-director Toby Mills (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngaiterangi) said he was sick of the narrative painting Māori as washed-up natives who arrived here by accident.

"That's not us. We come from great wayfarers. And our children need to know it," he said.

The culturally-crucial arts of waka building and celestial navigation had been lost for 600 years, until a Hawaiian, a Micronesian and "Chief Hek" met and began collaborating.

Together, they set a renaissance in motion and reclaimed the place of Polynesians as the planet's greatest navigators.

Co-director Aileen O'Sullivan spoke of the arrival of Hawaiians in Aotearoa by waka in 1983.

"They recognised that the tikanga (customary practices), the reo (language), the wairua (spirit), were all alive and well here," she said.

"What they found here was what they'd been yearning for."

The 94-minute film explores that pivotal time through interviews, waka voyaging, archival footage and beautifully executed dramatic reconstructions.

At the Q&A, Mills and O'Sullivan said they were humbled and thrilled to have at last brought home a work 15 years in the making.

"If it wasn't for the waka we wouldn't be here today, and that's the long and short of it," said Sir Hek Busby, pictured with Prime Minister Ardern at his 2019 investiture at Waitangi. Photo / NZME

For them, the film's ultimate underlying focus is the story of a culture that understands an inner compass.

Hek used to talk about an inner compass, and of possessing a sense of connection to his ancestors lying just below the surface.

"This is what Māori, and Polynesians, have gifted us. It's their natural way of living," O'Sullivan said.

"And I believe it's in everyone. It's just a case of turning on the switch.

"In moments like being caught in the rain, or out in the surf, we're all so capable of feeling it. And once people get it, they get it.

"My hope for this film is that we enable people to access that compass within themselves."

She also said the film was made because this knowledge has the potential to solve some of the biggest crises currently faced by humanity.

"We can draw strength and inspiration from connecting to our past, and connecting more intimately with the world around us.

"I felt we could all do with a story of hope."

Sir Hek taking a break while building a Waka at The Festival of Canoes in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.

Educator, researcher and author Brent Kerehona (Ngāpuhi) said the film's teachings are essential for youth.

"I always try to learn as much as I can about waka when I come here, so I can teach those mātauranga (values) to the kids," he said.

Kerehona was born in Sydney, and spent 20-25 years undertaking a "massive journey" to learn about his whakapapa to Rāwhiti, Bay of Islands.

He called the film "absolutely brilliant" for exemplifying that a kaupapa takes precedence over the people involved in it.

"Hek was humble. He committed wholeheartedly to making the kaupapa work because he knew it was bigger than him, and would benefit so many.

"The purpose is always more important than any one person. That's what the film embodied for me."

Waka moored.

Kerehona also believed the film would inspire many, and said "there has to be a way to fund showing it in schools across the motu (land)."

Mills told the crowd that he and O'Sullivan would "love this to go into schools, which demands time to develop cross-curriculum resource materials so our kids can get the best of it".

"Our work isn't done, but I feel positive and I feel hope for this nation.

"And that's part of his legacy; Hek always brought hope."

Watch trailer here