Māoriland Shines a Light on DEGANZ Members’ Mahi
17 DEGANZ members have work selected for the 2026 Māoriland Film Festival (MFF). This year’s theme is “He taonga tuku iho te rama ataata,” meaning “The light that reveals our legacies.”
111 films have been selected from 130 Indigenous nations and 27 countries, ranging from Arctic love stories to Māori gothic dramas to climate resistance in Papua New Guinea to language revitalisation across the Pacific. They will all come together across five days of storytelling, connection, and celebration.
The festival describes the selection saying,
These are stories that shine in the darkness. Stories of resistance, love, land, language and survival. Stories that remind us we are part of something bigger, and that we have the power to build the world we deserve.
MFF is the world’s largest Indigenous film festival, not only by showcasing Indigenous stories, but by bringing filmmakers, artists, rangatahi, and audiences together for premieres, screenings, industry events, art exhibits, and community events. It is returning to Ōtaki from 24 to 28 March 2026.
Check out the festival trailer and the selected DEGANZ members below!
Kiriata – Feature Films
Mārama
Director: Taratoa Stappard
1859. When a young Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers the horrific truth of her colonial heritage and sets out to destroy the titled Englishman who has devastated her family. In his debut feature, Taratoa Stappard (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) presents a bold and unsettling gothic tale of colonial reckoning with a stand-out performance from Ariana Osborne (Ngāti Mutunga and Te Āti Haunui- a-Pāpārangi).
Mārama is the festival’s closing night film.
Pakipūmeka – Feature Documentaries
Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito
Director: Nicholas Riini
Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito revisits the 1985 protest and occupation of the sacred mountain Taiarahia in the Ruatoki valley – a stand led by the people of Te Māhurehure hapū to protect their sacred maunga from being stripped of its ancient native forest and replanted with pine for financial gain.
Kiriata Poto – Shorts
Ace
Writer/Director: Ray Edwards
In a quest to save his parents’ marriage, Jimmy ventures to the east coast of Aotearoa in search of papers he believes will keep his family together.
Ata Pūao
Producer: Angel Kameta
Amid the nightlife of a new city, a young Māori trans-woman reckons with safety, isolation, and the fragile bonds of old friendships outgrown.
Devil in the Gat
Editor: Te Rurehe Paki
Desperate for his big break, an aspiring musician discovers a forgotten country singer at a nightclub who may hold the key to his dreams – but the answers come with a dark price.
Forget It
Director: Ashley Pye
A boy watches helplessly as his grandmother begins to slip into dementia.
I Am Not Your Dusky Maiden
Director: Vea Mafile’o
Editors: Lisa Greenfield and Jolin Lee
When a Sāmoan woman enters therapy, she must navigate a series of alter egos protecting herself from painful memories.
Kurī
Editor: Sam Small
Kurī hasn’t been back home to Te Urewera since she was bitten on the face by a dog as a child. After the death of her father, Kurī must return and face the uncertainty of grief – whether she is ready to or not.
O Alofa Nei, O Alfoa Na
Writer/Director: Giselle Ilaoa
Manaia, a young woman caught between expectation and self- acceptance, finds herself confronting her repressed sexuality when a chance reunion with her first love stirs old feelings
Rapido
Writer/Director and Co-Editor: Richard J Curtis
A young boy’s fascination with war comics comes closer to home than he could ever imagine.
Raupā
Editor: Allan George
When two people you love sit on the precipice of death, whose hands do you hold?
Spdrtwnbby ft JARNA – Back to Self
Director: Litia Tuiburelevu
‘Back to Self’ is a hypnagogic mirage of neo soul, R&B and art-pop, elegantly dressed in oneiric symbolism and poetic metaphors straight out of the South Pacific.
The Charm of the Magpies
Writer/Director: Liam Ngahina Joseph Maguren
A lone tūī must find her voice to speak up against her adoptive family before they start a war.
The Return
Editor: Alex Boyd
When Lupesina answers her ancestors’ call, she must accept herself, or risk being stuck in the in-between.
Womb
Writer/Director: Ira Hetaraka
A young Māori girl in the care of a conservative Pākehā couple savours her mother’s weekly visitations, as a custody battle driven by racial bias will ultimately decide their fate.
Last updated on 7 April 2026
