Apple CEO Tim Cook on Māori filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley's new video work shot on phone

NZ Herald

5 Dec, 2020 07:29 PM2 mins to read

Chelsea Winstanley shot her latest work using an iPhone. Photo / Getty Images

Apple CEO Tim Cook has congratulated Māori filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley on her new work, which she shot entirely using an iPhone 12 Pro Max.

"It's incredible to see art, creativity and technology come together in celebration of a new exhibit honouring Aotearoa New Zealand's indigenous Māori people and culture," Cook tweeted.

It’s incredible to see art, creativity and technology come together in celebration of a new exhibit honoring Aotearoa New Zealand’s indigenous Māori people and culture. Congratulations to @ChelseaPaparoa and all the artists involved. #ShotOniPhone https://t.co/6nF6TJO0ZC https://t.co/nlbiko8I9M
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 5, 2020

On Friday, Māori Academy Award nominated filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley launched an immersive video she directed, entirely shot on an iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The piece was released before Winstanley's feature documentary on Toi Tū Toi Ora, the landmark exhibition of contemporary Māori art that opened this weekend at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

The video, narrated by Taika Waititi with music composed by Maree Sheehan, marks the momentous opening of the Māori contemporary art exhibition.

On her website - www.thistooshallpass.nz - Winstanley writes that "honouring the Toi Tū Toi Ora exhibition was the perfect place to test out the capabilities of the iPhone 12 Pro Max especially given the way curator Nigel Borell chose to open the show, within the Māori creation narrative".

The filmmaker collaborated with artists who also have works in the exhibition. She said that was a deliberate decision "because the entire show is vast, it is the first time the gallery has ever put on a show this size and it happens to be a Māori exhibition; something that is incredibly exciting to [her]".