The Māoriland Film Festival (MFF) is a celebration of global indigenous film that will take audiences from Aotearoa to Arctic Circle during its fourth festival, in Ōtaki from March, 15 - 19.

Ahead of a full programme release on February 27, the MFF is excited to announce a series of highlights from the 2017 Programme.

Angry Inuk

In this multi award-winning documentary, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril sheds a powerful light on anti–seal hunting campaigns and the relevance of the hunt to the lives of the Inuit. Long a vital source of food and income for the Inuit, the seal hunt has been disrupted by high profile, international campaigns fronted by celebrities and led by well-funded animal rights organisations. The ensuing bans on seal products have caused financial devastation to northern communities, creating what the filmmaker calls the Inuit Great Depression.

Angry Inuk follows an emerging group of Inuit activists – armed with their own sense of humour and justice – as they insert themselves into the international discussion.

The documentary will resonate with New Zealand audiences - it is a story that we know - the desire to protect our natural environment and the creatures who reside within it while maintaining a sustainable and financially viable livelihood in the 21st century.

Colonization Road

How often do you stop to think about the name of a street?

In towns throughout Ontario, there are startling reminders of the colonisation of Indigenous territories and the displacement of First Nations people. Anishinaabe comedian and activist Ryan McMahon takes us to his hometown of Fort Frances and down its main drag, which is called Colonization Road.

Similar streets have similar names in towns and cities across the province, a direct reminder of the Public Lands Act of 1853 and its severe impact on First Nations, their treaties and their land in the name of “Canadian settlement.”

On his journey through Ontario, McMahon explores the history of these roads, meets with settlers in solidarity and raises significant questions about “reconciliation” and what it means to “decolonise.”

Mele Murals

Mele Murals is a documentary about the transformative power of modern graffiti art and ancient Hawaiian culture for a new generation of Native Hawaiians.

At the centre of this story are the artists Estria Miyashiro (aka Estria) and John Hina (aka Prime), a group of Native Hawaiian charter-school youth and the rural community of Waimea, dealing with the ill effects of environmental changes and encroaching modernization on their native culture.

Set against the resurgence of Hawaiian language and culture of the past twenty years, Estria and Prime tell how their street art has taken them on personal journeys to discover their history, identity and responsibilities as Hawaiian people.

Estria, who left Hawai’i to study art on the mainland, made a name for himself as a street artist and returned to reconnect with his Hawaiian roots. Prime, who grew up in the projects and became one of the first kings of the Honolulu graffiti scene, left a life of hustling and drugs after the birth of his first child and returned to writing when he realised it was a way to help youth.

Estria Miyashiro will be in attendance at the Māoriland Film Festival, producing a number of works over the course of the festival.

RISE

#NODAPL #WESTANDWITHSTANDINGROCK

On day 5 of his administration, President Trump signed executive orders that will allow the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline projects to move forward.

In light of these far too recent events, the Māoriland Film Festival is set to screen a selection from the Viceland docuseries, RISE.

From the Standing Rock protests to the battle for Oak Flat, RISE expertly investigates the ongoing environmental rights struggles that continue to be faced by Native American and indigenous citizens. Episodes, Sacred Water and Red Power are situated at Standing Rock. Unflinching and timely, these stories cannot help but be watched with a sense of melancholy as it conveys the ongoing history of native resistance to colonisation at such a sensitive point in US history.

RISE is both eye-opening education and a rallying cry, inspiring audiences to get involved and truly appreciated the 500 plus year legacy of native resilience in North America. It is an essential documentation of one of the most urgent environmental and civil rights struggles happening today.

RISE: Sacred Water and Red Power will screen at Māoriland Film Festival on March 18.

RISE also screens on Viceland from March 6.

Sámi Blood

Since its award-winning premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, Sámi Blood has played to acclaim at festivals around the world.

Amanda Kernell's powerful feature debut follows a teenage Sámi girl in the 1930s who is forcibly removed from her family and sent to a state boarding school that is intended to raise its Indigenous charges to a level "acceptable" to the rest of Swedish society.

Sámi Blood will screen at its New Zealand premiere at the Māoriland Film Festival as its opening night feature on March 15th.

Tanna

Filmed on the Vanuatu Island of Tanna and enacted by the Yakel tribe, Tanna tells of a sister’s loyalty, a forbidden love affair and the pact between the old ways and the new.

Mythic in its simplicity, the film is based on a true story that took place in 1985 and carried significant ramifications for the evolution of tribal society.

Directed by Martin Butler and Bentley Dean, Tanna stars an indigenous cast who had never watched a movie and learned their craft during filming. It is nominated for Best Foreign Language Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards.

The Māoriland Rangatahi Film Festival

Since the first Māoriland Film festival in 2014, rangatahi (young people) have played an instrumental role. They have created their own films for exhibition, welcomed audiences at every film screening and looked after the festivals’ guests. In 2017, the role of rangatahi in the MFF will be celebrated with the first Māoriland Rangatahi Film Festival.

The Māoriland Rangatahi Film Festival will run from March 15 - 17, within the wider Māoriland Film Festival. The MRFF, includes short films, features and workshops that have been curated by Ngā Pakiaka - a rangatahi committee of award-winning youth filmmakers aged 12 - 16.

The Māoriland Rangatahi Film Festival will open on March 15 with a celebration of youth film, an evening gala and nighttime free whānau screening of the smash international hit film Hunt for the Wilderpeople. A second free outdoor whanau screening for the Rangatahi festival is Disney’s, Moana.

The fourth annual Māoriland Film Festival will also feature a number of short film programmes, workshops, kōrero sessions, art exhibitions and more. The full festival programme will be released on February 27, 2017. To find out first, sign up to the Māoriland Film Festival mailing list.