Pioneering Maori filmmaker Merata Mita's dream of turning Cousins into a movie ended with her death in 2010. The project was picked up by director Ainsley Gardiner and writer/director Briar Grace-Smith. Cousins is based on Patricia Grace's decade-spanning novel following the fate of three Māori cousins in post WWll Aotearoa. Mata's removal from her whānau into state care profoundly affects each woman. In this trailer, middle-aged Makareta Pairama recognises her lost cousin Mata on a city street, and memories of their shared, rural childhood flood back. The ensemble cast includes Rachel House and Tanea Heke (No. 2).
I tried to find you, Mata. We all did.– Makareta (Briar Grace-Smith) encounters her lost cousin Mata (Tanea Heke) in Wellington
Whenua Films
Made in association with the NZ Film Commission, NZ On Air, Te Māngai Pāho and Kiwibank
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