Lockdown made Te Kura Kaupapa Maori pupils eager for school. PHOTO/FILE
Pupils at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Wairarapa have taken out a national film award for the fourth time.
A team of 12-year-old pupils competed against filmmakers up to twice their age to create a short film in the Outlook for Someday challenge.
The school’s project was one of 10 award-winning films in this year’s competition.
The OFS challenge called on filmmakers under the age of 25 to create films under five minutes long with a focus on sustainability.
That theme could be interpreted in any way a team chose.
The school’s film ‘Te aumangea i te poautinitini’ [‘Resilience in the face of the unknown’] presented a journey through the relatable struggles of lockdown.
Media teacher Wake Matthews said his pupils had originally planned a different subject, but lockdown interrupted their project.
“Lockdown gave us the subject matter, and we just ran with it,” Matthews said.
The pupils shot the film in documentary-style and featured footage from Jacinda Ardern’s Covid-19 press conferences.
They staged interviews with pupils in a variety of familiar lockdown situations: watching excessive numbers of DVDs, getting bored with playing Pokemon cards day after day, or pining after the skate park.
The conclusion of the film depicted the end of lockdown, with pupils excited to reunite with their friends and extended family.
Some pupils had even decided by this point that books were better than DVDs.
The team of 12-year-old pupils included Ngahuru Smith, Charlie Casha, Raniera Russo-Gregory, Maika Tait, Te Aroha Kerr, Aromea Fox, and Parehuria Davidson.
The OFS challenge had been running since 2007.
The school had previously won awards in 2007, 2008, and 2016.
Their winning film in the pilot competition had taken the concept of carpooling to the next level.
“One of the boys involved went around and picked up all of his mates on his bicycle – piling on the handlebars, the side-bar and the back,” Matthews said.
The school’s 2016 film took on the issue of the sustainability of te reo Maori.
- For more information, see someday.co.nz/challenge/winning-films/2020/028
