Cousins

Pioneering Māori filmmaker Merata Mita spent years trying to turn Cousins into a movie before her death in 2010. The project was picked up by writer/director Briar Grace-Smith and director Ainsley Gardiner. The acclaimed feature is based on Patricia Grace's decade-spanning novel, following three Māori cousins in post-WWll Aotearoa — including Mata, whose removal from her whānau into state care profoundly affects each woman. Later middle-aged Makareta Pairama recognises her lost cousin on a city street, and memories of their shared rural childhood (as seen in this opening excerpt) flood back.   

Shot mostly in close-up with a sensuous, lyrical grace by DP [director of photography] Raymond Edwards, the film is never more gorgeous than when on location in Rotorua, where the Pairama clan lives. Moving deftly between eras, the cutting by Angela Boyd creates a rhythm of circling and repetition that serves the story well.

– Co-director, writer and actor Briar Grace-Smith on the movie, in a 21 January 2021 press release

Key Cast & Crew

Ana Scotney

As: Mata (adult)

Ainsley Gardiner

Co-Director, Producer

Rachel House

As: Missy (adult)

Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne

As: Makareta (adult)

Briar Grace-Smith

Co-Director, Writer, As: Makareta (older)

Tanea Heke

As: Mata (older)