Stars come to Kerikeri for premiere of Dame Whina movie

Reporter·Northern Advocate·

24 Jun, 2022 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Several members of the Cooper whānau and key people in the movie attended the charity screening. From left, Cassidy Cross, Dame Whina’s great-grandson Darren Cooper-Matila, actor Rena Owen, co-director Paula Whetu Jones, Dame Whina’s granddaughter Irenee Cooper and Brian Matila. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A highly anticipated movie based on the life of Dame Whina Cooper opened in cinemas across New Zealand on the eve of the new Matariki holiday — but it was a charity screening in Northland the Cooper whānau and the movie's biggest star chose to attend.

Internationally acclaimed actor Rena Owen, co-director Paula Whetu Jones and Dame Whina's granddaughter Irenee Cooper were among the guests at Thursday night's premiere at Cathay Cinemas in Kerikeri.

The event was a fundraiser for local children's charity Bald Angels.

A welcome with songs and speeches by local hapū Ngāti Rēhia was followed by a chance to mingle, a charity auction and the movie, which follows the life of Te Whaea o te Motu (The Mother of the Nation) from her birth at remote Panguru to the 1975 Land March.

Acclaimed Northland actor Rena Owen plays the part of the older Dame Whina. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Jones didn't need any persuading when she was invited to the Kerikeri screening, saying the work of Bald Angels was close to Whina's heart.

"It's very close to mine too. I remember the support we got as kids growing up with no money ... My mum brought up six kids on her own and at that time, the 70s and 80s, there was no Women's Refuge and social welfare wasn't like it is today.

"The scene where Whina is door knocking [around poor Māori families in Auckland] was quite emotional for me because we lived in a car when we were trying to get away from our father," she said.

"I've watched it like 400 million times but still there are certain scenes that make me emotional. What the actors brought to the film was just insane, it was next level."

Co-director Paula Whetu Jones with Dame Whina's granddaughter Irenee Cooper. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Irenee Cooper was 3 years old when she was immortalised in a photo showing her holding her grandmother's hand as the pair began the epic march from Te Hapua to Wellington.

"The Bald Angels' focus on underprivileged children and families in Northland was a really big drawcard for me. If you understand my grandmother and her cause, it was always to take care of the children," she said.

Cooper, who now splits her time between Auckland and Paihia, said she had seen the movie at Panguru, Christchurch, Auckland and the Sydney Film Festival, and was heading to a screening at Parliament next week.

"It's been a wild ride. It still affects me every time I see it, especially the original footage of the march at the end. It brings tears to my eyes to hear her voice, it's so powerful and evokes so many memories for me."

Tautoko FM manager Cyril Chapman of Mangamuka, who carried the pou whenua during the 1975 Land March, speaks during the welcome. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Northland-raised, Los Angeles-based Rena Owen — who played the older Whina — paid a special tribute to Frank Leadley, the principal of Bay of Islands College when she was a schoolgirl.

Owen said she was a "delinquent teenager" when Leadley saw her lead a female haka and told the English teacher she had talent. She was then given roles in school productions that set her on a path to an acting career.

"I realised I'd found my place in the world ... I went from being someone he couldn't wait to expel, to winning a prize for contributing to the school's cultural life two years later. He literally changed my life."

Bald Angels founder Therese Wickbom points out Dame Whina's granddaughter Irenee in a photo that sold for $1650 in the charity auction. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Bald Angels founder Therese Wickbom said Dame Whina's famous quote about taking care of the children guided everything the charity did.

"If all our children do not thrive, our future is lost."

She never dreamed she'd one day stand alongside Dame Whina's mokopuna at a Bald Angels fundraiser.

"I can't believe how lucky we are to have these people with us, on the night Whina opens around Aotearoa."

Kerikeri High head boy and champion auctioneer Nicolas Powell encourages bidding in the charity auction. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A charity auction run by real estate agent Ross Paterson and Kerikeri High head boy Nicolas Powell , 17, raised several thousand dollars.

A copy of the Memorial of Right, a document carried during the Land March, sold for $1015 while a photo of Dame Whina and a young Irenee Cooper at the start of the march fetched $1650.