Series Classification: G (General Programmes)
Kauri are dying. A traditional Māori healer has one last chance to save an entire forest, one tree at a time.
A devastating disease threatens to destroy Aotearoa’s last remaining Kauri trees.
Standing in the way of losing these prehistoric giants forever is a Māori healer. Tohe Ashby is looking for answers held within the ancient knowledge of the first nations of Aotearoa: mātauranga Māori.
Discover the roots of indigenous medicine in a final bid to save the last of these great trees.
E ara! Ka tangi te Kauri.
Te Wao Nui is part of a collection of eight Loading Docs short documentaries.
Tohe Ashby in Te Wao Nui Photo: Loading Docs
Documentary Details
Director: Ngāriki Ngatae Photo: Supplied
Director: Ngāriki Ngatae
(Ngāti Uri, Ngāti Ārera, Ngāti Rupe, Ngāti ‘Akatauira)
Ngāriki Ngatae is an emerging screenwriter, director, and indigenous storyteller with broad experience across the arts and within various aspects of the film industry. She has honed her skills as a writer and storyteller through poetry and music, as a journalist in the Cook Islands, and through curating and coordinating creative multi-disciplinary arts projects. Ngāriki has voyaged at sea for six months on a traditional Polynesian double-hulled canoe.
She draws upon her Polynesian Māori and mixed whakapapa, and is heavily influenced by the narratives, ceremonies, healing, rituals, and connections to spirit that are born from her indigenous roots.
Producer: Karen Sidney
(Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine)
Producer: Karen Sidney Photo: Supplied
Karen is an award-winning writer with broad experience in all aspects of film and television production. She has worked in the film and television industries since 1984 as a producer, writer, director, researcher, production manager, assistant editor, and art department, and so has a strong organisational and administrative background. She has also been a representative on a number of committees and arts organisations and has attended international film-and-television festivals and marketplaces.
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NZ Film Commission Photo: NZ Film Commission
Made with the support of NZ On Air Photo: NZ On Air
Photo: Te Māngai Pāho
