Rohe Kōreporepo - The Swamp, The Sacred Place

Just look at the forest, look at the species, get to know the species, talk to them, see what they're up to.

– A nature fan talks about the beauty he sees at replenished wetland areas

The making of this film flowed more slowly partly due to the COVID lockdowns but also to the rohe kōreporepo. It didn’t stop, but continued flowing, moving like the wetlands do with long breathings in and out. In comparison to the two river films Water Whisperers Tangaroa and Seven Rivers Walking Haere Mārire we made on rivers—we had scarcely time to stop and take a breath but were swept along by the rivers. So the hurdle was adjusting to the movement, the breathing in and out of the wetlands.

– Co-Director Kathleen Gallagher on making her documentary Rohe Koreporepo- The Swamp, The Sacred Place, Flicks website, 26 October 2021

If Maketū wasn't here they'd be a lot of people starving.

– Local kaitiaki (guardian) on the ancient wetland Maketū near Kaituna River

So the hand of man has done some really bad things here, but there's also the opportunity to fix that up.

– Local kaitiaki on the need to replenish and restore native wetland areas

Our hauora spirit of life and our mana psychic influence and our mauri life essence are implicitly woven inside the hauora, the mana and the mauri of our water places. If our water places are unwell, filled in and poisoned, that diminishes us and we become unwell. If we restore our rohe kōreporepo wetland and they become healthy again, we too recover our hauora, our mana and our mauri.

– Co-Director Kathleen Gallagher on the spiritual significance of restoring New Zealand's waterways and wetland areas, Flick website, 26 October 2021

The species that fed our tūpuna over centuries is now... crying out to us. ‘We fed you over many years, now it is your turn to look after us

– Russ Parai (Ngāti Koata) on the need to retore his iwi wetland, official NZIFF webpage