The late Barry Barclay [Ngāti Apa] was one of New Zealand's most respected filmmakers. He directed such landmark titles as TV series Tangata Whenua, award-winning film Ngati, and The Feathers of Peace. Barclay was also a longtime campaigner for the right of indigenous people to tell their own stories to their own people.
In this ScreenTalk, Barclay talks about:
- Early days working at John O'Shea's production company Pacific Films
- Pacific's contribution to Māori filmmaking, in particular with iconic TV series Tangata Whenua
- Pacific's creative and independent spirit, and gaining inspiration from director Tony Williams
- Directing Pacific Films production Ashes, which starred a young Sam Neill as a conflicted priest
- Directing his first feature film Ngati
- Working with Pacific Films boss John O'Shea, and how O'Shea 'didn't really see skin colour'
- What it was like being 'Māori with a camera' in the early days of the Māori cultural renaissance
Note: there are some defects in the footage, which come from the original master.
Interview and Camera: Clare O'Leary and Monika Ahuriri. Editing: Alex Backhouse.
This video
was first uploaded on 18 July 2009, and
is available under
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We were basically lied to by the media, right up it was a shock to us to find that there was that kind of Māori world still around... I was told that Māori language was not spoken except in the mountains by old men on ceremonial occasions.
– Barry Barclay discusses how television series Tangata Whenua provided a new view of the Māori world