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Germany’s Dolphin Medien has acquired the rights to Ka Whawhai Tonu - Struggle Without End, which plays in TIFF’s Centrepiece section this week.

The film tells the historical story of the 1864 battle of O-Rākau between Māori and Colonial forces from the point of view of the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, in their own language Te Reo Māori.

It is currently New Zealand’s top grossing local film of 2024, with takings of $US 536,000.

Ka Whawhai Tonu is directed by Michael Jonathan and stars Temuera Morrison. The cast also includes Cliff Curtis, Miriama Smith, newcomers Paku Fernandez and...

"Go and rouse your people... raise your weapons!" Transmission Films has revealed an official trailer for an indie film from New Zealand titled Ka Whawhai Tonu, directed by Kiwi filmmaker Mike Jonathan. Set in New Zealand in 1864, the film follows the story of a crucial conflict of the nation's first land warfare, fought between Maori and colonial soldiers. The film's full title is Ka Whawhai Tonu - Struggle Without End: the historical story of the battle of O-Rākau as told for the first time from the point of view of the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, in their own language Te Reo Māori. Set in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1864, it's the story of a pivotal battle in the first New Zealand land wars in the Waikato region. A battle fought with impossible odds between Māori and the Colonial forces. This heroic conflict is told through the eyes of two...

They only spent one summer together as children, but the connection they share from blood and heritage ultimately lasts a lifetime, whether they know it could or not. Makareta (Mihi Te Rauhi Daniels) promised young Mata (Te Raukura Gray) that she’d never give up looking for her—because even though they were together now, British laws had intervened to ensure that moment remained brief. It didn’t matter that Makareta, Missy (Keyahne Patrick Williams), and the rest of their Māori family wanted to keep her in their arms and raise her in the land where her mother now rested. Mata’s father had already given her to a woman in England only too willing to use her as a revenue stream upon graduating from a school for desolate children.

Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace Smith’s (who adapted Patricia Grace’s renowned novel) Cousins is thus the decades-long journey...

Love and Monsters Review — Love and Monsters (2020) Video Movie Review, a movie directed by Michael Matthews, written by Brian Dufdield and Matthew Robinson, and stars Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Ariana Greenblatt, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Dan Ewing, Donnie Baxter, Ellen Hollman, Damien Garvey, Tandi Wright, Amali Golden, Tasneem Roc, Miriama Smith, [...]

Continue reading: Video Movie Review: Love And Monsters (2020): It doesn’t feature a lot of Love, Monsters, but lots of Drama...

— — Love and Monsters (2020) Film Review, a movie directed by Michael Matthews, written by Brian Dufdield and Matthew Robinson, and stars Dylan O’Brian, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Dan Ewing, Donnie Baxter, Ellen Hollman, Damien Garvey, Tandi Wright, Amali Golden, Tasneem Roc, Miriama Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, and Te Kohe Tuhaka. Vampires and zombies [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Love And Monsters (2020): Michael Matthews’ Movie Lacks Love and Memorable Monsters...

Ioan Gruffudd in ‘Harrow’.

Released today, the Covid-Safe Guidelines developed by the Australian Screen Sector Task Force set the stage for an imminent return to screen production – but only after travel restrictions are eased and the insurance risk issue is solved.

The 41-page document is designed to help producers eliminate and minimise the risks associated with exposure of personnel to Covid-19 as production resumes.

The task force comprised reps of Screen Australia, Screen Producers Australia, the Meaa, Aftrs, state agencies, guilds, the ABC, Sbs, Ausfilm and a number of production companies.

Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason said, “These guidelines are an essential tool to help the Australian industry get back to the business of creating world-leading screen stories. Whilst each production will need to have their own individual plan, we hope that the Covid-Safe Guidelines will help inform practitioners on what they need to be considering before they get back up and running.

Exclusive: Almost two decades after The Other Side of Heaven became one of the buzz titles that would help propel the faith-based movie market, original director Mitch Davis and star Christopher Gorham are ready to take the wraps off the sequel. The pic, titled The Other Side of Heaven 2: Fire of Faith, is now set to hit theaters June 7, 2019 via Davis’ Two Roads Productions, the company behind inspirational films including 2016’s The Stray, 2015’s Christmas Eve and 2008’s Language of the Enemy.

The original The Other Side of Heaven, which co-starred Anne Hathaway, grossed $4.75 million at the box office via Excel Entertainment and found even more traction on home video via Disney, centered on the true story of Mormon Elder John H. Groberg (Gorham) and his missionary adventures in Tonga in the 1950s as a 19-year-old bachelor. The sequel also based on true events tells of his return to...