Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award has been established alongside Te Rautaki Māori o Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga, the New Zealand Film Commission’s Māori Strategy. The annual award is our way of recognising and celebrating members of the Māori filmmaking community who have displayed a high-level contribution and/or achievement in screen storytelling.
This year, Te Aupounamu was awarded to two recipients: Tainui Stephens and Tweedie Waititi.
TAINUI STEPHENS—Tainui Stephens (Te Rarawa) is an independent film and television producer, director, executive producer, writer, and presenter. For nearly four decades Tainui has created screen stories helping to define the Māori television and film voices that speak to the marae, the
home, and the world. He is committed to the stance of the Māori storyteller in all modern
media. He remains attracted to compelling stories that critique and celebrate the human condition.
Tainui was an early producer for iconic Māori television series like Waka Huia, Marae and
Anzac Day; Nā Rātou, Mō Tātou. He has made influential social documentaries like Māori Battalion March to Victory, The New Zealand Wars and Taumata 3001. He has produced popular entertainment shows like When the Haka Became Boogie, Mai Time, and My Party Song. He has been a producer for feature films that have taken Māori stories worldwide River Queen, Rain of the Children, The Dead Lands and Whina.
His dedication to Māoriland Film Festival is also noted, especially his dedication to rangatahi Māori in the screen sector: “for the rangatahi creatives at Māoriland, he is always available to answer our questions and support us in our storytelling. We are not the first rangatahi to benefit either - innovation in storytelling, putting te reo Māori on screen and supporting rangatahi voices to be heard have all been consistent features of his career.” Madeleine De Young – New Māoriland Festival Director.
Tweedie Waititi is an Emmy Award winner as a producer with the ground-breaking transgender drama series Rūrangi. She is best known for her work with Matewa Media reversioning Disney animated films and bringing the te reo Māori creatives and music to films – Moana, The Lion King, and Frozen with two additional films due to be completed by 2024 of Coco and Encanto.
Waititi formed the production company Matewa Media alongside filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley. The company was named for Waititi's grandmother Matewa Delamere (1926-1998).
Tweedie is often called upon as a cultural producer or reo consultant on a wide range of projects from film, television, theatre and also corporate organisations. Tweedie’s production company Kokko Media is currently producing a number of projects including Puta Mōhio, a Māori Science program for Heihei and NZOA; Get Home, a decolonisation docu-series for TVNZ OnDemand; and recently produced Kura Tuarua Kapahaka for Māori Television. She was a graduate of South Seas Film and Television School.
Tweedie is often called upon as a cultural producer or reo consultant on a wide range of projects from film, television, theatre and also corporate organisations. Tweedie’s production company
Kokko Media is currently producing a number of projects including Puta Mōhio, a Māori Science program for Heihei and NZOA; Get Home, a decolonisation docu-series for TVNZ OnDemand; and recently produced Kura Tuarua Kapahaka for Māori Television.
“Tweedie is a firm believer in embracing the unique and beautiful intricacies of different dialects, and the customs that come from different iwi. This is not only shown in the mita (dialects) that she chooses to work with and the kaiwhakamāori who she engages with, but also in the way stories are told,” says Mia Henry- Teirney – Producer of We Are Still Here Anthology Film.