Tainui Stephens: prominent Māori broadcaster...

Interview – 2009

Tainui Stephens (Te Rarawa) is one of our foremost Māori broadcasters. He has worked as a reporter, writer, director, producer and executive producer. His credits include Maori Battalion March to Victory and The New Zealand Wars. Stephens was a stalwart of TVNZ’s Māori Programmes department in the 1980s and 90s, working on the regular series Koha, Waka Huia, Marae and Mai Time.

In this ScreenTalk, Stephens talks about:

Being raised by his Pākehā mother, and his own personal journey 'into my Māoridom'
Beginning work at TVNZ Māori Programmes in 1984, and how much he enjoyed his work there
How he loves all the programmes he has worked on over the years
Producing Koha and receiving a letter from a viewer saying the show helped them to "understand my neighbour"
How The New Zealand Wars helped turn a young Māori student into a history buff.
The good that Māori broadcasting can do
Māori Television — it's success, and the important role it plays in New Zealand life

This video was first uploaded on 17 May 2009, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview - Monika Ahuriri. Camera - Clare O'Leary. Editing - Leo Guerchmann

You really have to have empathy. I can be as self-indulgent as I want about nice shots, nice script, wonderful story; it doesn't mean diddily squat if it can't touch another person. And that's why my learning about being Māori and moving in the Māori world has been important.
– Tainui Stephens on how connecting with his Māori culture has helped his filmmaking

Tainui's Full Profile