The Patea Maori Club are coming from Taranaki to run a workshop at the Corban Estate Arts Centre Matariki Festival.

They will teach participants to sing their iconic song, POI E, to promote a revival of the song to coincide with the release of the movie POI E: The Story of Our Song.

Members of the group will be at Corban Estate Shed 2 to teach participants to sing POI E (or to encourage those who know the song already) on Saturday July 2. The event runs from 10am – 4pm. It’s FREE and open to everybody. Participants can stay the day or just for an hour or so.

There will be cameras making a video to promote the new movie, plus news media covering the event as part of their Matariki Festival and Maori Language Week stories.

Organisers would like to see all the different faces of New Zealand enjoying the challenge of singing this song, taught by the masters, The Patea Maori Club, who are travelling from Taranaki to West Auckland especially for this occasion.

The movie POI E: The Story of Our Song, written and directed by Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion), coming soon to NZ cinemas nationwide.

The idea behind the Learn Poi E Matariki Workshop is that the film title calls Poi E “Our Song”, which many New Zealanders (Maori and non-Maori alike) feel in their hearts. But even though they may think they know the song, most really only know the chorus “Poi e . . . .. poi… taku poi e”.

Matariki being a time of new beginnings, could be the perfect time for people to learn POI E. The workshop is also just before Maori Language Week (which starts on July 4) and POI E is still the ONLY song in Te Reo Maori to EVER hit Number One on the music charts. The song was composed by Ngoingoi Pewhairangi and Dalvanius Prime in 1984 as a way of getting young people interested in Te Reo. So it is very relevant today as a way of getting people talking about the language and its place in Aotearoa.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/134570000281532

The trailer for the movie will be released soon.

LEARN POI E: Matariki Workshop is sponsored by Corban Estate, Foundation North, Te Puni Kokiri, Te Mangai Paho, Patea Film Collective and is organised by Kiriata Publicity Ltd and Flax Shoots Charitable Trust.

CONTACT: Sue May, publicist: suemay@xtra.co.nz  ph: 0274 739 318

ABOUT ‘Poi E’, the song:

In 1984, ‘Poi E’ reached Number 1 on the NZ Pop Charts and broke every musical record. It remained in the charts for 34 weeks. It outsold ‘Thriller’, ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’ and every other hit of 1984. It has been in the Top 10 in New Zealand, every decade for the past 30 years. It was also the first Number 1 song written and released entirely in Te Reo Māori. To put it simply, this small song changed New Zealand, forever.

SYNOPSIS of the movie POI E: The Story of Our Song

‘Poi E’, a simple song with a catchy beat released 32 years ago, has become New Zealand’s unofficial national anthem. With humour, energy and emotion, the movie POI E is the story of how that iconic song gave pride to generations of New Zealanders. From Taika Waititi giving Stan Walker his quirky take on life in the 1980s to Patea Maori Club members’ straight-talking and funny memories of the song’s visionary originator Dalvanius Prime, director Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion) captures a unique story that taps into the heart of the nation.