Kauri are dying. A traditional Māori healer has one last chance to save an entire forest, one tree at a time.
A short documentary directed by Ngāriki Ngatae
A devastating disease threatens to destroy Aotearoa’s last remaining Kauri trees. Standing in the way of losing these prehistoric giants forever is a Māori healer. Tohe Ashby is looking for answers held within the ancient knowledge of the first nations of Aotearoa - mātauranga Māori. Discover the roots of indigenous medicine in a final bid to save the last of these great trees. E ara! Ka tangi te Kauri.
Stands of Kauri trees used to cover 1.2 million hectares of the land in Aotearoa. Now, less than 1% of those trees remain.
And the last of these giants now face their biggest threat yet: Kauri dieback. There is so far no known cure for Kauri dieback disease, and the disease kills most – if not all – the Kauri it infects.
Te Wao Nui is a story about indigenous knowledge, about the last of our true elders of this land, the ancient Kauri, and about our relationship to our trees, our plants and our great forests. The story will be told in te reo Māori, with an english subtitled version available on release.
Now more than ever, as we see the Amazon Forest burning, raging fires across Australia and up to a million ancient Olive trees in Greece and Italy die of disease: the world is searching for solutions. It is the Indigenous Peoples of the world who have knowledge handed down throughout generations about Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and how to bring our planet back from the brink of destruction. Te Wao Nui is an internationally relevant story about an Indigenous solution to Kauri dieback disease affecting our ancient treasures in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
“Kaitiakitanga (noun).
guardianship, stewardship, trusteeship.
Kaitiakitanga matters. We are witnessing catastrophic environmental and ecological events on a scale never seen before. It is the Indigenous Peoples of the world who have knowledge handed down throughout generations about Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and how to bring our planet back from the brink of destruction. Te Wao Nui is a story of Kaitiakitanga: Kaitiakitanga as an act of healing, survival and indigenous sovereignty. Te Wao Nui is a rare glimpse into the ancient world of Māori knowledge. Te Wao Nui is about the last of the true elders of Aotearoa, the ancient Kauri, and about our relationship to our trees, our plants and our great forests.”
Ngāti Te Tarawa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kawa, Ngāti Rahiri, Ngāpuhi
Tohe Ashby is an indigenous man hailing from northern Māori tribes of Aotearoa-New Zealand: Ngāti Te Tarawa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kawa, Ngāti Rahiri and Ngāpuhi. He was raised learning about the healing and medicinal plants held within the great forests of Aotearoa. A native speaker of Te Reo Māori and raised in the Māori world, Tohe is an esteemed leader in Rongoā Māori, the ancient Māori system of healing, and traditional knowledge. He is also the Chair of Ngā Tirairaka o Ngāti Hine, the environmental management organisation for his tribe of Ngāti Hine. Tohe is one of a few in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland) who are searching for a cure for Kauri Dieback through whakapapa and mātauranga Māori. And they may have found a possible solution through a link between the kauri and the whale. The properties of whale oil may hold some answers and so Tohe and others have been exploring this.
Tohe Ashby
The team
Ngāriki Ngatae - Director
Ngāti Uri, Ngāti Ārera, Ngāti Rupe, Ngāti ‘Akatauira
Ngāriki is Māori ki Moananui-O-Kiva (Pacific Ocean) with connections to Ngāti Uri, Ngāti Ārera (Rarotonga), Ngāti Rupe (Aitutaki) and Ngāti ‘Akatauira (Mitiaro) a writer-director and indigenous storyteller currently based in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Her short documentary, Te Wao Nui, explores kaitiakitanga (indigenous stewardship) and the indigenous relationship to the natural world and screened across 11 international film festivals.
Through Indigenous filmmaking, Ngāriki seeks to free the indigenous voice to be heard authentically. Ngāriki has voyaged at sea for six months on a traditional Polynesian double-hulled canoe and she draws upon her Polynesian Māori and mixed whakapapa, heavily influenced by the narratives, ceremonies, healing, rituals and connections to spirit that are born from her indigenous roots.
Karen Sidney - Producer
Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine
A visit to the set of Geoff Murphy film The Quiet Earth motivated Karen Sidney to work in the screen industry. One of her first jobs was in the art department for 1985 miniseries Heart of the High Country. She went on to join a filmmaking course run by Ngāti director Barry Barclay, then moved into documentary, producing A Whale's Tale. She also wrote award-winning Cliff Curtis drama Kahu & Maia. In 2002 Sidney helped develop Aroha, a series of love stories in te reo. She also co-produced, and wrote episode Mataora. Sidney has spent time lecturing in film studies in Whangarei, and working at Creative Northland.
[Aroha] was dreamed up by Joanna Paul, Melissa Wikaire and myself as we gathered one night to mourn the loss of friend Cherie O'Shea, and over chocolate martinis we said 'there is not enough love in the world' ... Karen Sidney, on the birth of Aroha, a series of contemporary love stories
Cinematographer
Fred Renata (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Rēhia)
Editor
Tia Taurere-Clearsky (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri)
Composer
Riki Pirihi (Ngātiwai, Ngāi Tāhuhu, Patuharakeke, Ngāti Māhanga)
Titles Design
Dan Mace (Ngai Te Rangi, Ngāti Maru ki Hauraki, Clan O'Boyle) and Rona Ngāhuia Osborne (Ngai Tahu)
Impact Producer
Danica Waiti (Te Rārawa, Ngāti Pikiao, Taranaki)
Associate Producer
Anna Rasmussen (Ngāti Ārera, Ngāti Akatauira)
