Auckland actor Mia Van Oyen has been cast in the title role in the short film Puti by writer and first-time director Aroha Awarau. Photo / Supplied
Auckland actor Mia Van Oyen has been cast in the title role in the short film Puti by writer and first-time director Aroha Awarau. Photo / Supplied
A short film dedicated to the resilience of urban Māori and Pasifika youth and the sacrifices many make to contribute to the wellbeing of their whānau is set to go into production next month.
The makers of Puti, a short film about a young Māori girl living in the city who makes the ultimate sacrifice for her whānau, are crowdfunding to help bring the story to the big screen.
Written and directed by Aroha Awarau (Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Porou, Niue, Samoa), Puti won Best Short Film Screenplay 10 years ago at the 2014 Pikihuia Māori Writers’ Awards in Wellington. At the time, judge Larry Parr described the story as “outstanding”, saying it needed to be told.
Aroha Awarau with Professor Rawinia Higgins and Larry Parr. Photo / Supplied
After 10 years in development, the urban story will be shot in September in Tāmaki Makaurau.
“I worked for the Pacific Medical Association in Auckland during the Covid-19 pandemic. I saw first-hand the sacrifices that our Māori and Pasifika teens made to help their whānau, like being forced to leave school to join the workforce,” says Awarau.
“I saw the resilience of our urban youth and what they had to do to contribute to the household. In this current economic climate, our teenagers are still having to make these sacrifices. This film is dedicated to them.”
Awarau is an award-winning magazine and TV news journalist and playwright. A film studies graduate, he has written two short films, Home (2015) and Disrupt (2021).
The films have travelled to 30 international film festivals - including New York, LA, Berlin and Russia - and have won multiple awards. This includes Best International Short Film at the Puerto Rico International Film Festival in July 2022 for Disrupt, directed by Jennifer Ward-Lealand. Disrupt follows an elderly Māori woman’s desperation to help her P addict mokopuna overcome his problem.
“I’ve told stories in many different mediums but film has always been my number one passion. I’m excited to share this story of Puti which has been with me and close to my heart for the last ten years.”
Puti is produced by Louisa Tipene Opetaia (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Samoa) of Glorious Productions.
She will make the film with support from executive producer Lanita Ririnui of Ngā Aho Whakaari, and associate producers Sara Jane and Leaupepe Ralph Elika of ECG, the producers of the gospel TV show Soul Sessions.
The film is part of the Ngā Aho Shorts programme, a fund given by Ngā Aho Whakaari - the industry body for Māori involved in screen production - for short films from Māori filmmakers.
Tipene Opetaia says that despite the support, it’s expensive to shoot a high-quality short film in Aotearoa and the Puti team still needs to raise more funds to cover costs.
She says the production has started a crowdfunding campaign on the Boosted website to try to help provide the cast and crew with a reasonable industry rate and to cover the high cost of shooting around the inner city streets of Auckland.
“Māori films are consistently the top-grossing films in Aotearoa and our Indigenous stories resonate with many people around the world. We want to contribute to that legacy and grow our powerful Māori and indigenous storytelling.”
