“ I’m very grateful for my life, and I have to say it’s because I made a decision very early on because I had a hunger for the language… where the language was just a normal part of what you do. I pat myself on the back for dropping out of varsity..” - Tainui Stephens
In this episode of Paperback Guerrillas I sit down with Libby Hakaraia and Tainui Stephens. The couple who helped bring the Māoriland film festival to life, the largest indigenous film festival in the southern hemisphere. Outside the festival though they're both extremely prolific story tellers with massive careers on and off-screen through some of the most important shows especially for Māori.
As well as their career journeys from a time when hearing Māori on primetime television was a dream, we talk about racism from ex-prime ministers, fighting against those trying to put our people in boxes, what it means to do the work you love, the importance of indigenous storytelling, being in control of the medium, and lots lots more. It was a fun conversation and we covered a lot of ground. Enjoy.
Māoriland film festival runs between March 18 - March 22 2020 and is an annual event. For more information including movies and screen times, visit here: https://maorilandfilm.co.nz/
If you want to help us share these conversations for positive change, please help by donating here: www.patreon.com/paperbackguerrillas
Question: what was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Comment below and let us know!
Resources
Pukapuka/books we talked about:
The short stories Pera mentioned:
People Tainui & Libby mentioned:
- Anaru Kupenga: https://www.teaomaori.news/he-maimai-aroha-anaru-kupenga
- Henare Te Ua – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henare_te_Ua
As always, he mihi nui, a big thank you, to Patrick Ryan for the audio magic, and Trek One for the choice intro music (you can hear more of his music on Spotify here.)
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