Mo Te Iwi: Carving for the People

Rangi Hetet was only 17 years old when he began working as an apprentice, carving the Tāpeka meeting house. Six decades later, his life and work are examined in this documentary, as his children prepare to exhibit his work at the Dowse Art Museum alongside that of their mother, the late Erenora Puketapu-Hetet. The feature-length documentary also explores the art of whakairo (carving), and its cultural significance within Māori communities. Mo Te Iwi director Robin Greenberg's earlier film Tu Tangata: Weaving for the People (2000) was about Erenora and her Māori weaving.

Carving does not exist alone, just as a skill. It exists within a whole body of knowledge and that body of knowledge exists and is held by a whole community of people, by a whole nationhood of people.

– Rangi Hetet's daughter Lillian Hetet

Key Cast & Crew

Owen Ferrier-Kerr

Editor

Neil Mayo

Editor

Lillian Hetet Owen

Producer

Jeff Hurrell

Editor, Associate Producer

Waka Attewell

Cinematographer

Robin Greenberg

Director, Producer