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Writer-director Taratoa Stappard’s debut feature, Mārama, a Māori gothic thriller set in Victorian England, will make its world premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Discovery strand. Ariāna Osborne leads the cast of the New Zealand film as a young Māori woman who uncovers gruesome secrets inside an English manor, and must fight to reclaim her identity and indigenous culture. British actors Toby Stephens and Umi Myers also star, alongside New Zealanders Erroll Shand and Jordan Mooney. During production,...

The post Taratoa Stappard’s ‘Mārama’ joins TIFF line-up appeared first on If Magazine.

Comedy actor and writer John Early has added director to his resume as he brings his first feature, Maddie’s Secret, to open the Toronto Film Festival Discovery sidebar for first-time and emerging filmmakers.

The film about Maddie, a Food Network content creator trying not to allow her dark past to pierce her perfect veneer, stars many of Early’s colleagues in the L.A. stand-up comedy scene, including Kate Berlant, Vanessa Bayer and Connor O’Malley.

In all, Discovery programmers have assembled 23 world premieres for their 25th edition. Also booked into the Toronto section is director Nadia Latif’s The Man in My Basement, which plays with the horror genre and stars Corey Hawkins as an African American man about to lose his family’s home, until a white businessman (Willem Dafoe) offers to rent his basement to clear his debts in a deal he chose not to refuse, but should have.

Rachel Griffiths drama “Madam” has sold to a slew of territories across the Asia-Pacific region including Hong Kong and Philippines.

The comedic drama stars Griffiths as New Zealand local Mack Leigh who discovers her husband has been visiting sex workers, prompting her to open her own “feminist, ethical brothel.”

Rima Te Wiata (“The Wheel of Time”), Danielle Cormack (“Wentworth”), Robbie Magasiva (“Bad Behaviour”), Martin Henderson (“Virgin River”) and Ariāna Osborne also star.

Based on Antonia Murphy’s memoir, which has been adapted for screen by showrunners Shoshana McCallum (“Inside”) and Harry McNaughton (“The Pact”), the show is directed by Kacie Anning, Madeleine Sami and Peter Salmon and produced by Tavake and XYZ Films for Warner Bros. Discovery Anz in association with Fifth Season, who are handling worldwide distribution.

They have now secured deals with Australia’s Nine Network, Hong Kong’s Now TV and Philippines’ Lionsgate Play.

Executive producers are...

Production has begun on “Tangata Pai,” a Warner Bros. Discovery-backed drama that claims to be the first primetime series in which 30% of the dialog will be in the Maori language.

The eight-part series tells the stories of five people whose worlds collide when a bomb is detonated at a peaceful Māori protest against a license to mine a sacred site. The completed show will play on New Zealand’s Three and Three Now channels.

The series was created by writer, director and producer Kiel McNaughton who also serves as showrunner and director for the series.

Tangata Pai is produced by Kerry Warkia under the production banner Brown Sugar Apple Grunt Productions, which she founded with McNaughton. It was co-written by McNaughton, Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen, Briar Grace Smith and Hamish Bennett.

The series is made in partnership with Ngāti Te Whiti and Te Atiawa (Indigenous people of New Plymouth and...

A new film is bringing a fresh perspective to the big screen. “Mārama,” a Māori Gothic horror movie, has started production in New Zealand. The film blends Māori culture with traditional elements of Victorian Gothic horror. It aims to create a new genre by telling an indigenous story in a unique cinematic style.

Set in rural Yorkshire, England in 1859, “Mārama” follows a young Māori woman’s journey to reclaim her identity. She struggles to maintain her culture far from her homeland. The cast includes Toby Stephens, known for roles in “Black Sails” and “Die Another Day.” Rising New Zealand actress Ariāna Osborne takes a lead role. Māori writer and director Taratoa Stappard directs the film between locations in New Zealand and the UK.

Stappard looks forward to presenting viewers with a confrontational yet original vision. “This film will offer a fresh take on Gothic horror,” he said. It seeks to...

Toby Stephens & Umi Myers Lead Māori Gothic Horror ‘Mārama’

Toby Stephens and Uni Myers are starring in Māori Gothic horror Mārama, which has also cast Ariāna Osborne in a lead role. Shooting on the gender-bending film is underway in New Zealand, which is known as Aotearoa in the Māori language. Set in North Yorkshire in Victorian England in 1859, the film follows a young Māori woman’s fight to reclaim her identity and indigenous culture. It comes from Māori writer-director Taratoa Stappard and also features Erroll Shand and Jordan Mooney. Sharlene George, Co-CEO and founding Partner of international production company The Sweetshop, is producing. Rickylee Russell-Waipuka and Rouzie Hassanova are also producing with Paraone Gloyne as Māori language and culture producer. Executive Producers include Victoria Dabbs and Gal Greenspan for Sweetshop Entertainment,...

Production is now under way in New Zealand on “Marama,” a gothic horror film from Māori writer-director Taratoa Stappard. Production is taking place around Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island and in the South Island’s Otago region.

Set in North Yorkshire, England, in 1859, “Marama” is the story of a young Māori woman’s fight to reclaim her identity and indigenous culture in Victorian-era Britain. The film title comes from the woman’s name.

The film features Māori actor Ariana Osborne in the lead role, alongside British actor Toby Stephens who has recently wrapped principal photography on the project.

The cast also stars Umi Myers (“Bob Marley: One Love,” “Dope Girls”) along with New Zealanders Erroll Shand and Jordan Mooney.

“Marama” is produced by Sharlene George, co-ceo and founding partner of production company The Sweetshop.

The film’s other producers are Rickylee Russell-Waipuka, Rouzie Hassanova with Paraone Gloyne as Pou Tiaki Reo & Tikanga (M?...

Rachel Griffiths wants people to start respecting sex workers. Now.

“If we disrespect sex workers, we are disrespecting women. It’s the same thing,” she says.

“In Australia, we are in the throes of terrible violence against women. We’ve had more of them die at the hands of their partners or ex-partners in the first three months of the year than in all of last year. People used to talk about what a woman was wearing if something bad happened to her. If she was a sex worker, nobody investigated these cases. I really hope we grow out of it.”

In her new show “Madam,” Griffiths – a “Six Feet Under” and “Brothers & Sisters” star, nominated for an Academy Award for “Hilary and Jackie” – plays Mack Leigh. The show had its world premiere Saturday at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.

After discovering her husband has been hiring a sex worker,...

“Six Feet Under” star Rachel Griffiths gets a new job in upcoming drama series “Madam” – as an ethical brothel owner.

The first trailer for the series sees Griffiths, playing wife and mother Mack, get to grips with the business after she discovers her husband has been seeing sex workers behind her back.

“Mack Leigh lives in small-town New Zealand with her husband Rob and their two sons,” reads the synopsis. “What was meant to be a short visit became permanent thanks to the free healthcare for their disabled son. When Mack discovers Rob’s been seeing a sex worker, she’s surprisingly not angry but inspired. After all, sex work is legal in New Zealand, and her marriage has lacked intimacy for years. Always a renegade and a bit of an entrepreneur, Mack learns the only brothel in town is run by a douchebag. With no money and no experience,...

Rachel Griffiths has been cast as the lead in “Madam,” a new dramedy series about an escort agency.

Griffiths, best known for her roles in “Six Feet Under” and “Brothers & Sisters,” stars as McKenzie ‘Mack’ Leigh, who sets up an ethical brothel in New Zealand after her philandering husband and mountain of debt leave her struggling to provide for her family.

Joining Griffiths on the show are Rima Te Wiata (“The Wheel of Time”), Danielle Cormack (“Wentworth”), Robbie Magasiva (“Bad Behaviour”), Martin Henderson (“Virgin River”) and newcomer Ariāna Osborne.

The series, which started shooting on location this week, is based on Antonia Murphy’s unpublished memoir about an American woman who opened an ethical escort agency in New Zealand after the country decriminalized sex work. Murphy’s company aimed to protect women’s rights, well-being and financial independence.

Showrunners are Shoshana McCallum (“Inside”) and Harry McNaughton (“The Pact”) while...