Name: Waru
Genre: Drama, Festival & Independent
Released: 2017
Duration: T1H26M
Cast: Tanea Heke, Roimata Fox, Ngapaki Moetara, Awhina-Rose Ashby, Maria Walker

Trailer

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Eight Māori female directors contribute a sequence to this feature which unfolds around the tangi of a boy who died at the hands of his caregiver.

"We see a single death through the differing lenses of the extended family, community, and in one sharp sequence, national media too. Waru weaves multiple reactions and offers a glimpse into the events which ensue upon the killing of a child and the conflict created among loved ones." (RNZ/The Hui)

2017Rating: M, Violence, offensive language, sex scenes & content that may disturb86 minsNew Zealand

DramaFestival & Independent

All Reviews (10)

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Waru / Reviews

Flicks, Liam Maguren

Chances are, you’ve never witnessed anything like Waru. This isn’t because of its multi-narrative one-shot structure - comparable to 2005’s Nine Lives - and the actual reason for Waru’s uniqueness isn’t a positive one. With only two feature films credited to female Māori directors, Merata Mita's Mauri and Ramai Hayward's To Love a Māori, the voices of Aotearoa’s native women haven’t been heard enough in cinema. With Waru, the film's eight directors deliver an emotional shout into that silence, and it carries the spread and whaea power of a shotgun.

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Stuff

Compelling, often surprisingly funny, indelibly moving and occasionally jaw-droppingly brilliant.

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Stuff

Even if some scenes resonate less than others, the overall impact of Waru is stunning and it is impossible not to be moved and impressed in equal measure.

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Roger Ebert

Passion is a thrilling, guiding element to this film; the thematic dedication to exploring the Maori culture dealing with this grief is just the beginning.

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New Zealand Herald

Waru stands a sturdy testament to the way film can generate resonant art from difficult subject matter. All New Zealanders should see it.

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Newsroom

It's an electrifying commitment to culture and in many ways it feels uniquely New Zealand.

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Newshub

Waru is confronting, thick with grief, rage, a guilty impotence and a tormented desperation.

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New Zealand Listener

This doesn’t always work – a sequence about the media is a bit heavy-handed – but when it does, it’s mind-altering.

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Hollywood Reporter

A fascinating glimpse into New Zealand's contemporary Maori community, Waru brings a sense of dramatic, urgent realism to a story that plays out like a suspenseful mystery.

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BirthMoviesDeath

The best New Zealand drama in years.

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