The Road to Whakarae

Made as part of the New Zealand short film series Loading Docs, there is a real warmth and invention to this film that shows us around a community while all those filmed sing parts of a traditional song that opens the film being sung by an older man on his porch. I am deliberately vague on this because I must say I watched the film waiting to be told anything about what I was watching. After some searching around the internet on Wikipedia, I read about the Ngāi Tūhoe tribe living (partly) in a very specific region of New Zealand. I also learnt that the mana they sing about doesn't mean the same thing as the word will to those of us who grew up through weekly Protestant Sunday schools.

All of this is well and good. The film engages by its approach and the variety of people and locations it draws in. I felt a sense of irony when they hit the line about the 'cosy little homes' while rather more basic buildings and caravans were in the background. I liked the film and the approach but I will be honest and say it bugged me that it left me on the outside. It is a very nice project for the community (I read it was also an opportunity to train a crew from the region) but as a viewer the film never really helped me out. A black title card with some words about the tribe and where they live would have been enough – I know time is under pressure when it comes to a 3 minute short but it would have made it feel much more inclusive as a film (I totally get the irony of me saying that, by the way).

It still has enough charm and interest about it to work, but you have to wonder why the film chose to not even help the casual viewer with even basic information.