Tupaia's Endeavour - The Feature Film

Tahitian priest and navigator Tupaia acted as translator between Captain Cook’s crew and Māori, after a bloody first encounter at Poverty Bay/Tūranganui-a-Kiwa in 1769. Fijian-born filmmaker Lala Rolls and artist Michel Tuffery bonded over Captain Cook book The Trial of the Cannibal Dog. Rolls' feature Tupaia's Endeavour (also a 2017 Māori Television series) is the culmination of an eight-year exploration of the Pasifika pioneer. Actor Kirk Torrance, professor Paul Tapsell and Tuffery (a descendant of Tupaia) travel to Tahiti and England, and reveal new information about Tupaia's role in Aotearoa's history.

When we went to Taputapuātea for the first time...that was such a significant moment. For me, it's like this is the leaving ground of the...significant waka that came to New Zealand came from here. and you know, Kahungunu whakapapa to the Tākitimu waka and the Tākitimu waka was built there and blessed there and left from there — so to have that sort of connection, that was my little spine-tingling moment.

– Actor Kirk Torrance on travelling to French Polynesia while making Tupaia's Endeavour, on the Tupaia's Film Facebook page

Key Cast & Crew

Michel Tuffery

Actor, Presenter

Stephen Gallagher

Composer

Lala Rolls

Editor, Director

Kirk Torrance

As: Tupaia, Presenter

Riki Gooch

Composer

Paul Sutorius

Additional Editing