It's Maori Language Week and a great time to check out the just-released trailer for upcoming action film The Dead Lands.
This is a film I have been hugely excited about since it was announced last December. It's the sort of film I've dreamed of seeing for years, ever since walking out of my first viewing of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto and wondering why we hadn't seen a Maori equivalent.
Director Toa Fraser and his team are currently in post-production. The film stars James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare, Te Kohe Tuhaka, George Henare, Xavier Horan and Rena Owen.
The Dead Lands will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival later this year.
While The Dead Lands is set in pre-European settlement Aotearoa and will focus on the Maori martial art of Mau Rakau, it is not the first Kiwi action period movie that features Maori.
Geoff Murphy's Utu was released in 1984 and is a true New Zealand classic.
Starring Anzac Wallace and Bruno Lawrence, the film is a dark, Kiwi take on the Western genre, ahead of its time and features some amazing set-pieces.
I debuted the Dead Lands trailer on Firstline this morning and discussed the two films.
Watch the video.
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source: newshub archive
