Waru

The film is made of eight parts. A different director made each one. All eight are Māori women. The word waru means eight in Māori. The parts take place around a funeral. It is being held for a small boy. He died at the hands of the person caring for him. Each part runs ten minutes. Each was taken in a single shot. All of them begin at one minute to ten in the morning. Each has a woman at its centre. The stories keep coming back to one question, which is what circumstances lie behind the death. The directors are Casey Kaa, Ainsley Gardiner, Katie Wolfe, Briar Grace Smith, Chelsea Cohen, Renae Maihi, Awanui Simich-Pene and Paula Whetu Jones. Tanea Heke and Roimata Fox appear in the eighty eight minute film, a New Zealand production finished in 2017.