We Are Still Here screens at AUT
AUT whānau involved in an award-winning film were celebrated at a special screening event at Ngā Wai o Horotiu, AUT Marae.
We Are Still Here, is the first co-production between Māori, Pasifika and Aboriginal Australian filmmakers. Created during Covid-19 lockdowns, the feature film is an anthology of eight interwoven vignettes. Together, they present a picture of Māori and Indigenous resilience and survival that is brutal and beautiful in equal measure.
The film’s Aotearoa-based producer, Mia Henry-Tierney (Ngātikahu ki Whangaroa, Te Rārawa, Ngāti Kuri), graduated from AUT in 2011 with a BBUS. Mia was celebrated at the Marae along with Executive Producer, Dr Christina Milligan (Ngāti Porou), who is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Communications, and award-winning producer.
Introduced by the Business School’s Director of Māori Advancement, Professor Ella Henry, Mia (who is Ella’s daughter) described the challenges of producing a trans-Tasman feature during a pandemic.
“We had to change our plans to shoot in 2020, because we couldn’t risk moving around the motu (Aotearoa) with COVID numbers running high,” said Mia. “So, my whānau helped us build the outside of a wharenui in the Waitākeres for one of the stories, and we created a futuristic world inside the tunnels at North Head for another. The support we had was just amazing.”
We Are Still Here won the 2022 Dramatic Feature award at the prestigious ImagineNative international film festival.