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Tearepa Kahi (born 16 March 1978), also known as Te Arepa Kahi, is a New Zealand film director and former actor of Ngāti Paoa and Waikato Tainui descent. Kahi is best known for the 2013 drama Mt. Zion starring Stan Walker, and the Pātea Māori Club documentary Poi E: The Story of a Song (2016).
Christchurch-raised Tearepa Kahi began acting and playing saxophone as a teen, then spent two years in a theatre troupe run by Jim Moriarty. Later he studied history and Māori at Auckland University, and acted in landmark te reo film The Māori Merchant of Venice (2002).
Sep 21, 2022 · Jay Ryan, Cliff Curtis, and director Tearepa Kahi discuss their experience making Muru and working with New Zealand Māori activist, Tāme Iti.
- Perri Nemiroff
- 19 min
- Senior Producer
Tearepa Kahi, writer and director of Muru. (Photo supplied) Tearepa Kahi has already made a mark in the theatre as a reo-speaking Shakespearean actor, and as a writer and director of the documentary on Dalvanius and Patea’s Poi E anthem. A doco on Herbs as well.
- On Deciding to Make A Film That Responds to The Tūhoe Raids
- On Tāme Iti Playing Himself
- On Finding The Right Approach
- On Working Through Real-Life Trauma with The Tūhoe Community
- On Making The Film Where The Raids Happened
- On Shooting During The Pandemic
- On The Personal Impact Among The Community, Cast and Crew
- On Bringing This Story to The World
Tearepa: "Our first cup of tea together was in 2018, but my father and Papa Tāme, and my father-in-law and Papa Tāme, are friends, so the relationship predates 2018. You could almost say 'where did this film start?'. It probably started on the 15th of October 2007." Tāme:"I think those beginnings, it was really talking to people that we can trust. ...
Tāme:"I mean, when Tearepa and I were talking about the character…" Tearepa:"I had a secret. And I kept the secret from him." Tāme: "It was all good. At the end of it, I did agree to it. There was a moment of anxiety, but I got over it and just moved along — it was fun, really." Tearepa: "We surrounded Papa Tāme with the best cast we could produce ...
Tearepa: "It's not what happened — it's a response to what happened. In that spirit, the spirit that guided us through here, is that this film, Muru, we hope is a prevention from this occurring to Tūhoe or to any Māori community ever again. Two times, our government has repeated their actions. And in many ways this is more than a reminder — it's a ...
Tāme:"That was my role, and others around us, to have those conversations with the community." Tearepa:"We had two years' worth of conversations. This was something that we carried with us every day, over the entire process. Is the commitment to telling this story going to enact more trauma, or retraumatise? Or, can we do this in a way where the po...
Tearepa: "What was it like staging an action film in Tāme's backyard? It was the most fun we've ever had as a full, experienced crew. We made many decisions from the outset, and one of them was not to shoot this in a West Auckland studio, or on a Lord of the Ringsset. So we went to Tāme's backyard, and we spent our time conversing and communicating...
Tearepa:"It was the best thing for us because it brought us much focus, and it brought us closer together. We're always trying to cast the lightest footprint in and amongst the community, but the amount of focus meant there was no third wheel to lean on. It was really up to us. It was like making an old-school 1980s film, you know, an old-school Ge...
Tāme:"It was a whole new experience for the Valley, and bringing people into the space. Actually, that part was quite fun. After everybody agreed to participate in the making of the movie — it was a big thing for the village, to see something big is happening within our village — they were really excited, particularly my generation, the older folks...
Tearepa:"Everyone stays glued to their seats when the credits roll. We have been so specific with the Valley, in terms of the dialect, the language, the relationships — they are so specific. And I guess in committing to that level of specificity, you are universalising the story. There's a big undercurrent that's happening worldwide in terms of que...
Oct 14, 2022 · Tearepa Kahi. Selected as New Zealand’s official submission for the 2023 Academy Awards in the category of ‘Best International Feature Film’, Muru is a searing response to real-life events of 2007, which saw police invoke new anti-terrorism powers by launching an armed raid on the Tūhoe people in New Zealand’s Ruatoki region.
It’s the fourth feature by director Tearepa Kahi. His earlier films have been much gentler affairs, whether it was the young band drama of Mt Zionor his celebratory music...
