Restless River

Navigating the social norms of the colonisers and the reality of her own family situation, the young Inuk woman Elsa draws courage from her land to become a woman as strong and independent as the restless river that cuts across it.

Pre-screening short film: Hawaikii

Director: Mike Jonathan | Aotearoa | 2007 | 11 mins

For a young Māori girl it’s the first day at school, the first day without the security of her parents. Raised with Māori culture as her basis, she is about to enter a foreign environment with little or understanding of their culture nor they of hers. The anxiety of surviving or being accepted in this foreign world is so high that she suffers withdrawal. For someone so young she is aware of adult things such as poverty and stress. She understands her family’s lack of material wealth and the economic limitations they live within. Her father is a hard-working man who provides as best as he can for his family but money is always tight. Employed as a railway worker, he and his family live in a railway cottage in a railway community. He has been raised in the old ways of Māori culture and raises his children accordingly. This family is not wealthy but they have something more valuable than money, they have love for each other and a love for their culture and its stories. No Hawaikii oku tipuna (My ancestors descended from Hawaikii).