Guarding the Family Silver

In 2002, musician Moana Maniapoto was prevented from using her first name to market herself in Germany because it was copyrighted by someone else. That bewildering experience prompted this award-winning doco made with partner Toby Mills. It explores wider issues of commercial exploitation of 'exotic' indigenous cultures by global companies — a vexed area which Western intellectual property law seems ill-equipped to deal with. There are case studies of the good, the bad and the ugly over usage by brands including Lego, the All Blacks, Ford, Moontide and Playstation.

All of this cultural debate, for me, is about what the family silver is. It happens, probably, to be the family pounamu.

– Minister of Culture and Heritage Judith Tizard

Key Cast & Crew

Moana Maniapoto

Co-Director, Presenter, Composer

Toby Mills

Co-Director, Editor, Additional Camera and Sound, Producer

Don Anderson

Sound

Stuart Page

Sound Mix, Online Editor, Additional Camera and Sound

Grant Lowrey

Sound

Paul Richards

Cinematographer