Nanna Maria (Ruby Dee), the matriarch of a Fijian-Kiwi family, fears the heart has left her clan. She demands her grown grandchildren arrange a traditional feast, where she will name her successor. But family tiffs will spin events into chaos. This award-winning love letter to the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill marked the first film from Toa Fraser (The Dead Lands), who adapted it from his play. Invited to many global festivals, No. 2's awards haul included the World Cinema Audience Award at American festival Sundance. It also spawned classic song 'Bathe in the River'. Fraser writes about making No. 2 here.
[Toa] Fraser knows Roskill like Spike Lee knows Brooklyn.– Philip Matthews in a Listener review of No. 2, 11 February 2006
Colonial Encounters
Made with funding from the NZ Film Commission, in association with Working Title Films and NZ On Air
Song 'Bathe in the River' composed by Don McGlashan, performed by Hollie Smith and the Mt Raskil Preservation Society
Closing credits song 'Home, Land and Sea' composed by Warren Maxwell, and performed by Trinity Roots
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