Tō Te Wai tells a story about reconnecting

“Hoki atu ki tōu maunga kia purea ai e koe ki ngā hau o Tāwhirimātea
Return to your mountain and be cleansed by the winds of Tawhirimatea”

The Outlook for Someday presents the first short film directed by Actor’s Program graduate Georgia-May Russ (Waikato-Maniapoto), and produced by Jewels King (Waikato-Tainui, Taranaki, Ngāti Hine), releasing online on Wednesday 13 September 2023 as part of Someday Stories Series 7 on The Outlook For Someday Website and YouTube.

Releasing during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Tō Te Wai features half its dialogue spoken in reo Māori. 

When a woman’s ambitious nature-led project clashes with local iwi, she is forced to confront the idea that she has been too far from home, too long.

Tō Te Wai was co-written with Michaela Te Awa-Bird, based on a poem Michaela wrote reflecting on herself in Te Ao Maori. Tō Te Wai was created as an opportunity to share a sense of the real experiences of Māori wahine who’ve moved away from their turangawaewae.

Georgia-May Russ said: “This kaupapa has given the opportunity for our cast and crew to find themselves, their purpose and sense of belonging. Filming Tō Te Wai became more than just your average filmmaking, it was an emotional journey for all of us. Reconnection, discovery, and inspiration. We filmed and stayed on a marae, we were all one big whanau.”

Tō Te Wai is one of the six films in Series 7 of Someday Stories, an annual series of sustainability-focused short films by emerging young filmmakers from Aotearoa. Someday Stories is produced by Connected Media with support from NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho in association with Whakaata Māori and RNZ.