Cliff Curtis is a busy man.
Right now, the actor, who's worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese and James Cameron, says he's the busiest he's ever been.
He stars in Muru, which opens Thursday, September 1 after a successful run at the 2022 New Zealand International Film Festival.
Then he'll again be on our big screens in December with the highly anticipated Avatar sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.
In Muru, Curtis plays local cop and part time school bus driver Sergeant 'Taffy' Tawharau, who finds his allegiances and place within the community questioned as the 2007 New Zealand police raids start to take place.
While the film, which has been dubbed a response to the raids of the Ngāi Tūhoe community of Rūātoki, opens in cinemas around the main centres, for Curtis, it's within the heartlands he's hoping it will find its greatest resonance.
Curtis held a special premiere of the film in Rotorua and also headed back to his own marae ahead of resuming his busy schedule.
The actor told Newshub it's at his marae, Tapuaekura Marae - on the shores of Rotoiti - where he is most at peace.
"That's our maunga there, Matawhaura. That's our tupuna there. My dad and his siblings were all born here. My dad's buried up there and my grandparents are buried over there," Curtis said of the connection to his land.
But it's also this connection to whānau and whenua which fuels and feeds his need and commitment to telling local stories on the international stage.
"Muru, the name we came up with - the translation it means 'forgive'. So that's a way to present the film and for the audience to view it. It's something you can come and watch and hold that word 'Muru' in your mind and your heart," Curtis said.
Muru opens in cinemas September 1.
