Loading Docs 2020 - Te Wao Nui

This evocative short film follows Northland kaumatua Tohe Ashby, as he uses mātauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge) as a cure for kauri dieback disease. Ashby — alongside fellow spiritual practitioners Fred Tito, Hori Parata and Te Ariki Manihera Henderson — administers a traditional whale ointment to the trunks of ailing Kauri, referencing an ancient relationship that the tree enjoyed with its relative the whale. Made in te reo Māori with subtitles, the documentary marks the debut of Whangārei director Ngāriki Ngatae, who approached the making of the film carefully because of the spirituality of the rongoā (medicine). 

I am nature, nature is me / I am the ocean, the ocean is me /I am the kauri, the kauri is me...

– Kaumatua Tohe Ashby explains an underlying Māori environmental philosophy

Key Cast & Crew

Colleen Brennan

Sound Recordist

Karen Sidney

Producer

Fred Renata

Cinematographer

Tia Taurere-Clearsky

Editor

Juliette Veber

Producer

Ngāriki Ngatae

Director, Producer