1.) Why is it important for Maori or indigenous stories to be told using the medium of film?
"Storytelling is at the heart of te ao Māori – passing knowledge of the taiao, and wisdom of life through generations. In the modern-day, the same rings true, but with the addition of film and television, Māori storytellers are sharing their tales further than ever."
Māori film and television – from Rupeni Poata’s struggle against the patriarchy in Mahana, to the challenges of clashing generational values in Mt Zion – have provided a medium for the continuation of a storytelling tradition stretching centuries into the past. One which is finding increasing relevance to audiences of all backgrounds today as Indigenous storytelling is established as a self-sustaining industry unto itself. audiences respond to Indigenous storytelling because of its greater sensitivity to the threads which bind us together through time and space.
2.) provide a brief summary of Maori storytelling - how has the ability for their voices to be heard, telling things from their perspective, changed over the years?
The whakapapa of modern Māori storytelling begins in the late 1800s when Māori first accessed the printing press, says Hakaraia. “They started to print the Māori newspaper and began telling the stories from our own waha, our own mouths, and through our own writing. Stories were being disseminated from a Māori perspective.” , “And then the first films that were made in this country had Māori in front of the camera. Māori was dressed up in grass skirts and aping for the camera, but at the same time, they were finding their way into crewing positions. But it’s taken a very long time from the 1920s to where we are today 100 years later actually creating our own stories and films.” Māori stories have layers, themes, and story beats that are instantly recognizable. They are the stories of people that have been pushed from their whenua into cities or off the marae or to the edges psychologically, says Hakaraia. They are stories of trauma and hurt, but also of joy, humor, and redemption. “They are amazing stories of survival and retention and revival of language and culture.”
1.) What does Maori storytelling look like in modern times?
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