Kikokiko

We're in the final stretch of pre-production of our Short Film, Kikokiko. This is a story of whānau, reconnection and healing... yes, there are Pūngāwerewere and Cows too! 

We have been so lucky to receive Catalyst Funding to make this film but with the complexity of all the elements of our Short Film, we are fundraising this additional $3,000 to get across the line. 

Anei mātou te hunga whakarite o te kiriata, Kikokiko e karanga atu ana ki te iwi whānui kia tautoko mātou i te ekenga atu ki te pae mutunga!

Your support is invaluable and will help us bring this kaupapa to life with integrity, care and vision, ensuring we reach the finish line together. 

Tautoko mai!

We are a team of 3 wāhine Māori - Matariki Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Hinerangi), Jorja Heta (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri) and Hariata Moriarty (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa, Ngāpuhi Hokianga ki te Raki) who have grown up in our Ao Māori with a drive to tell our stories for our people.

Matariki Bennett is an established writer and creative whose work spans from a Published collection of Poetry, ‘e kō, nō hea koe’ to drama and documentary Screen-Writing and Directing. A graduate of South Seas film school, Matariki has developed projects that centre Māori perspectives and challenge colonial narratives. In 2021, Matariki co-wrote and co-directed Te Kohu - alongside filmmakers, Michael Bennett and Jane Holland - one of the supernatural anthology films for TVNZ funded by NZ On Air and Te Mangai Pāho, which was released in 2022 and nominated for 3 awards at the NZ film and television awards. Her short documentary, Wind, Song and Rain (2022) was part of the Loading Docs, Tumanako collection, which screened at ImagineNative in Toronto and Maoriland. Matariki’s first short film, Tōku Reo (2019), debuted at the 2020 Wairoa Māori Film Festival. 

Jorja Heta is a writer and poet whose work explores Māori identity, spirituality, and the lived realities of wāhine Māori. A graduate with a Bachelor of Laws and Arts (2024) holding a human rights background, Jorja is driven by storytelling as a vehicle for justice and mana motuhake.

Hariata Moriarty is a producer of Kikokiko and co-founder of Hurō Productions. With nearly 20 years of experience as an actor, including screen credits such as Cousins, Red, White and Brass, and Beyond the Veil, she brings a deep understanding of performance and story to her producing practice. A graduate of law (admitted to the High Court in 2023) and a current Masters student in Māori Laws and Philosophy, Hariata’s creative kaupapa is to restore faith in tikanga and to centre Māori stories on stage and screen.

This funding will directly assist with our film budget, which is coming up $3,000 over what we have received in funding. This will assist with Pre-Production, Production and Post Production costs, which include pool hire and equipment hire for an Underwater shoot and Farm hire. 

This money will ensure that we execute our vision, so our voices and our story are heard. 

Kikokiko is a deeply personal short film that emerges from a collaboration between writers Matariki Bennett, Jorja Heta, and Hariata Moriarty. Without giving too much away about our story (we hope you will come and watch it on the big screen!), Kikokiko was born from years of kōrero between Hariata and Matariki, and a recent and powerful connection with Jorja. This led to the shared recognition that our lived experiences of matakitetanga could give shape to a story both intimate and universal. 

Matakitetanga (heightened intuition) exists in Kikokiko, not as an existential concept, but as a part of life. Matakite (having the gift of foresight) have a strong connection to Te Ao Wairua (The Spirit World). Our matauranga (knowledge) is often reduced to ‘myth’ and ‘legend’ but in Kikokiko, Matakite as a reality informs our storytelling. This dialogue is crucial amongst our communities, to remind us that our taonga (treasured things) are powerful and that some things we cannot carry alone.

Kikokiko as an exploration of life and death is particularly relevant with Aotearoa having the highest youth suicide rate in the OECD. Though the cause of death is not explicitly addressed in the film, we have written whānau grief through the lens of losing a loved one to suicide. It is incredibly important for us to be telling a story of hope, of love and of healing, as we know first hand this is what our rangatahi (young people) need.

This story has come together naturally as it is deeply rooted within each of our own lived experiences. Now is the right time to tell it because it is a story of our generation told by our generation. 

We are a team of 3 wāhine Māori and have grown up in our Ao Māori (Māori culture). We must tell our stories so our people, Aotearoa and the world see our people for who we are.

Our communities are voicing a strong need for Wāhine Māori storytellers. Hearing our reo (language) on screen and throughout the production process is crucial at a time when racial division is stirring. Seeing an all-wāhine cast with wāhine in key roles (Writer, Director, Producer, 1st AD, Gaffer, Hair & Makeup Designer, Costume Designer) is necessary when gender inequality and bias is still an issue. Kikokiko is a response to these things that silence our people. It is a response to a common experience of grief and pain, giving voice to healing through Te Ao Māori.