Mātaki Mai Māori Film Festival | Rewi's Last Stand
Join us for the Opening Event of the Mātaki Mai Film Festival 2025, your ticket for this screening includes a drink and nibbles.
Rewi’s Last Stand (1949), Rudall Hayward’s groundbreaking film, is a romantic drama set against the 1864 British invasion and Battle of Ōrākau, where Rewi Maniapoto and 300 supporters resisted the advance of 1,500 imperial troops during a three-day siege. Around this historical event, Hayward wove a fictional love story between a settler, Robert Beaumont, a young Māori woman. Released during the centennial year of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the film features Ramai Te Miha Hayward (also known as Patricia Miller) as the lead character Ariana, whose “half caste” identity is central to its narrative.
Following our screening of Rewi’s Last Stand, film historian Sian Smith (Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) joins us to discuss how Te Miha Hayward centred Māori perspectives in the film’s interpretation, despite its contribution to colonial nation-building.
With special thanks to Ngā Taonga and the Hayward whānau.
Rewi’s Last Stand (1949), Rudall Hayward’s groundbreaking film, is a romantic drama set against the 1864 British invasion and Battle of Ōrākau, where Rewi Maniapoto and 300 supporters resisted the advance of 1,500 imperial troops during a three-day siege. Around this historical event, Hayward wove a fictional love story between a settler, Robert Beaumont, a young Māori woman. Released during the centennial year of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the film features Ramai Te Miha Hayward (also known as Patricia Miller) as the lead character Ariana, whose “half caste” identity is central to its narrative.
Following our screening of Rewi’s Last Stand, film historian Sian Smith (Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) joins us to discuss how Te Miha Hayward centred Māori perspectives in the film’s interpretation, despite its contribution to colonial nation-building.
With special thanks to Ngā Taonga and the Hayward whānau.
Alice Cinema's, 209 Tuam Street, Christchurch Central
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