Drum/Sing (1985), a visually striking five-minute short by film-maker Gregor Nicholas, will also be shown.
Closing the evening is Te Hā o te Ao (2026), an 18-minute documentary directed by Simon Ogston following the creation and installation of artist Chris Booth’s Te Haa o Te Ao sculpture.
The sculpture on the corner of SH10 in Kerikeri stands almost 20 metres tall and weighs more than 30 tonnes.
Ogston said the project began after he moved to Kerikeri from Auckland, shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It was an interesting engineering challenge, and it was also about a very important wider issue, that being climate change.”
Ogston filmed the project between 2020 and 2022 in his spare time, documenting key moments in the sculpture’s construction.
The self-funded project was later put on hold while he worked on feature film Kaikohe: Blood & Fire, about a mixed martial arts fight team that operates out of a Kaikohe community gym. The film featured in last year’s International Film Festival and screened in cinemas around Northland. After that, he returned to complete Te Hā o te Ao.
“This year Chris and I got together and filmed a little ending for the film. It was nice to have that break and to kind of rediscover the footage and I was quite pleasantly surprised with what I had. So, it’s actually been six years in the making.”
He said working with Booth was a pleasure and people would appreciate the sculpture more with the context provided by the film.
“I feel like it’s an interesting look at what was an interesting and challenging process for Chris and his team and I also wanted it to tell a story about climate change without making a film about climate change per se.
“So I’ve tried to root the story in the details of an interesting engineering project but that it also touches on a wider and very important issue.”
Booth said while many recognised the sculpture, not everyone understood the message behind it and he hoped the documentary would encourage people to learn more about the work and ideas behind it.
“I’d like to think people will notice it and perhaps go and read the signboard at the base of the sculpture or research it further.”
The Kerikeri-born artist said the concept emerged after discussions with Ngāti Rēhia about creating a landmark entranceway to the town.
Learning about the area’s history, including the significance of nearby Pōkaka Hill as a site from which messages were relayed across the Taiamai Plains, prompted him to consider the challenges facing modern society.
“It made me immediately realise that the biggest battle we’re facing at the moment is climate change. That was what inspired the sculpture.”
Booth said the sculpture’s suspended stones were inspired by traditional poi, which were originally used for purposes beyond performance.
“Each one of those stones is a poi, and collectively they’re poised above the ground to form a statement that the biggest battle we’re facing is climate change.”
He said he hoped the work would continue to spark curiosity, particularly among young people.
“I want the children to ask the questions.”
To enter for a chance at a ticket, email your name and contact details, with Film Evening in the subject line, to regionalcompetitions@nzme.co.nz by Thursday, September 17 at 3pm. By emailing to enter this competition, you agree to the NZME Standard Promotion or Competition Terms and NZME Privacy Policy that can be viewed at: https://www.nzme.co.nz/about-nzme/terms-conditions/
Yolisa Tswanya is deputy news director at the Northland Age. An experienced journalist and newsroom leader, she reports across the Far North and Northland, with an interest in health, education and community affairs.