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WARU

January 8, 2023

Moderator: Spencer Everhart

Panelists: Kerri VanderHoff (Film) and Lance Hohaia (Culture)

Director: Various

Year: 2017

Country: New Zealand

From eight female Maori directors come eight connected stories, each taking place at the same moment in time during the tangi (funeral) of a small boy, Waru, who has died at the hands of a caregiver.

Festival Premiere

2017 Toronto International Film Festival

Discovery

Awards

Grand Jury Prize, Winner

2018 Asia-Pacific Film Festival

Audience Award, Winner

2018 Seattle International Film Festival

"A fascinating glimpse into New Zealand's contemporary Maori community, Waru brings a sense of dramatic, urgent realism to a story that plays out like a suspenseful mystery."

-- Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter


"It's a remarkable achievement - authentic, impassioned, unexpected - that stands as a testament to the radical power of cooperative film-making."

-- Mark Kermode, Observer

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