Heroes or terrorists? A hundred years after the theft of three irreplaceable Māori carvings from New Zealand, two Māori men decide it’s time for ancient grievances to be put right, setting their sights on the Berlin museum where the carvings are stored.
Rewi Marangai, a successful lawyer, has been working on a patent case. Peter Huaka, a performance poet, is on a European tour. They first meet when Peter is detained in the museum, where he has been causing turmoil about the stolen carvings. Back in New Zealand, they meet again where Peter is recruiting helpers for his campaign to bring the carvings back home. But when Rewi is persuaded to join the group by a Māori elder, plans go awry, leaving more than the fate of the carvings in balance.
Barry Barclay — director of landmark TV series Tangata Whenua and feature film Ngati — was a longtime campaigner for the right of indigenous people to tell their own stories, to their own people. In 2004 he was made an Arts Foundation Laureate, and in 2007 a Member of the NZ Order of Merit. Barclay passed away on 19 February 2008, after publishing his acclaimed book Mana Tuturu.
(Biography courtesy of New Zealand On Screen.)
