Wellywood Woman

Merata Mita and Mauri by Cushla Parekowhai 2016 edit. First published in Illusions , 1988:9: December. VUW, Wellington. So you heard eh? Went to this hui at Taiwhakaea Marae round Whakatāne way where there was all this talk about Māori making Māori films. Hooked up with the director Merata Mita. It was full on. Kōrero going, hammer and tongs. Merata decided she needed a break so the two of us went outside and sat in the sun, not doing nothing. Well maybe thinking a bit, taking care of the baby and listening to the sound of the sea. Was nice, relaxing even, but eventually I switched on the cassette recorder, opened up the notebook and asked, ‘So what do you reckon about the honky film industry then?’ Merata plucked at a wayward strand of late spring grass. You know I find it tragic that Māori aren’t left to make our own stories, ourselves. We just don’t get a chance to address our own problems, our own personalities and our own ways of looking at life.

From left: Sharon McGowan, Rina Fraticelli of Women in View, Claude Joli-Coeur, Karen Day, Susan Brinton The Canadian National Film Board chairperson and film commissioner, Claude Joli-Coeur, has announced that at least half of the board's productions will now be directed by women, and half of its funding will go toward films directed by women. The plan will be rolled out over the next three years, and the board will remain completely transparent in its budgetary allocations by making all production spending information publicly available online. For the current fiscal year, 43.4 percent of the board’s production spending will go toward projects directed by women, and 43.5 percent will go toward projects directed by men, 11.3 percent of the board’s production spending will go toward projects directed by mixed teams, and 1.8 percent hasn't been allocated yet. Claude Jolie-Coeur made the announcement at a panel at the Vancouver International Women In Film Festival (jus...