New Zealand / 2016 / 103 min / DCP / Drama

Director : Lee Tamahori

Script : John Collee adapted from a Witi Ihimaera's novel
Cinematography : Ginny Loane
Editing : Michael Horton, Jonathan Woodford-Robinson
Music : Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper, Tama Waipara
Production : Robin Scholes, Janine Dickins, James Dean, Troy Lum

Cast : Temuera Morrison (Tamihana Mahana), Akuhata Keefe (Simeon Mahana), Nancy Brunning (Ramona Mahana), Jim Moriarty (Rupeni Poata), Regan Taylor (Joshua Mahana)

Cannes Ecrans Séniors 2017 Award

1960s, the East Coast of New Zealand. Two Māori sheep-shearing families - the Mahanas and the Poatas - are sworn enemies and commercial rivals. The Mahanas are ruled over by the autocratic patriarch bully, Grandfather Mahana. Grandfather is quick to predict the wrath of God for minor infractions such as tardiness, inept wood-chopping, frivolous fashion sense and long hair on boys. His grandson Simeon is guilty of all of this and more. And it turns out that the wrath of God is nothing compared to the wrath of Grandfather Mahana, who banishes Simeon’s entire branch of the family when a dinner table argument gets out of hand. As Simeon unravels the truth behind the longstanding family vendetta, he risks not just his own future prospects but the cohesion of the entire tight-knit society.

Lee Tamahori

Of Ngāti Porou descent, Lee Tamahori was born in 1950. He had directed a number of shorter dramas for television before he made his feature film debut in 1994 with "Once Were Warriors". He left New Zealand to explore many exciting opportunities, mainly in Hollywood, after the huge critical and commercial success of this first feature. His feature film credits over this period include: Mulholland Falls (1996), The Edge (1997), Along Came a Spider (2001), Die Another Day (2002), xXx: State of the Union (2005), Next (2007), The Devil’s Double (2011). Internationally acclaimed feature film director, he has returned to New Zealand after 20 years working overseas to direct in New Zealand Mahana (2016).