Tawhaowhao (2016)

A man has set up camp on a stony, rugged beach. It is a place special to him and his family but now he is alone, dishevelled, broken. He builds a fire and collects seafood but before cooking he starts to chant, tapping stones, burning seaweed. Breathing in the smoke. Along the uninhabited coastline, a young woman approaches. She is his daughter. They sit down to share a reunion meal of freshly caught mussels. But the veil between the living and the dead can only be lifted for a short time. Tawhaowhao was produced as part of the NATIVE Slam, 2016. The NATIVE Slam is an international indigenous filmmaking challenge where 15 established indigenous filmmakers came together in Aotearoa to produce 5 short films in 3 days.