Fantail

Tania (Sophie Henderson) identifies as Māori, despite being blue-eyed and white. She works long shifts at a petrol station in the hope of taking her brother Pi to Australia, to find their Dad. In this excerpt, Tania's fearless "extreme sports athlete" boss (Jarod Rawiri) struggles after downing multiple cans of V. Henderson's script was born as a drama school project. Her partner Curtis Vowell made the movie in 20 days, via the NZ Film Commission’s low budget fund Escalator. Critics raved: NZ Herald critic Dominic Corry found the twist on the Hine-nui-te-po myth "one of the freshest New Zealand films to come along in years". 

A fascinating and brave film anchored by Sophie Henderson’s Kidman-esque performance ... Curtis Vowell’s direction lends a refreshing lightness to a story that both embraces and critiques New Zealand culture, and what that term actually means.

– Writer Sam Brooks on website Lumière, 1 August 2013

Key Cast & Crew

Jahalis Ngamotu

As: Pi

Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper

Composer

Jarod Rawiri

As: Dean

Sophie Henderson

Writer, As: Tania

Vinnie Bennett

As: Bigman

Stephen Lovatt

As: Rog