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This teledrama explores the tensions surrounding an elderly woman's tangi, as whānau members gather in a suburban house. Alienation of urban Māori — particularly son Paul (Jim Moriarty) — from iwi roots, and differing notions of how to honour the dead, are at the heart of the conflict between the mourners. A pioneering exploration of Māori themes, the Rowley Habib teleplay was one of three one-off dramas the playwright wrote (alongside 1978's The Death of the Land, and 1982's The Protesters) encouraged by director Tony Isaac. It screened in April 1980.
The main theme of the play is about the vexed matter of where a (Māori) person is to be buried, when they die.
As the children of the deceased Māori mother had grown up in the city, removed from their Māori roots "up north" — not ...
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Short Film, 1984 (Full Length)
A short film also exploring Māori concepts of death
Television, 1996 (Full Length)
A doco on Hone Tuwhare whose ‘Waiata Tangi’ closes this drama
Television, 1997 (Excerpts)
More whānau conflict over a Māori body
Film, 1994 (Trailer, Excerpts, and Extras)
A film about urban Māori alienated from their iwi roots
Short Film, 1996 (Full Length)
A short film also about death in a Samoan family in Newtown
See all interviews › Related interviews:
Actor Jim Moriarty cut his teeth on the early dramas Pukemanu and ...
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Qantas Media Awards 2009
NZ ON SCREEN 2012
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