Marae Tour - He Ao Wera

Film-makers Mike Smith & Hinekaa Mako produced a 45-minute documentary film “He Ao Wera” that explores the effects of climate change in Aotearoa / New Zealand. The film explores the predictions and analysis from the science community about climate change and the ongoing observations of Maori people on the ground.

Between June and September 2009 Mike and Hinekaa conducted a 3 month distribution tour of the film on the North Island. During this time, one thousand copies of the DVD were hand delivered to a range of key organisations including Iwi Runanga, Kura kaupapa Maori, Trust boards, Environmental groups, Health groups, Hapu organisations, Marae and Whanau groups. A series of public screenings were arranged and workshops were held to educate trainers on how to train people about climate change.

While they were travelling to the various towns and cities, Mike and Hinekaa identified existing local climate change initiatives and created profiles about them on their associated website (now migrated to their page). In addition, they began to identify areas of opportunity for the development of future assistance programmes.

Project Date- 2009

Project Grant- $20,000

Tuanuku means to ‘get up and get moving’ or ‘activate’. It is also a reference to ‘Papatuanuku’ the Maori term for Mother Earth or ‘the place where we stand and live our lives’.