TICKETS $15

Doors 6:30 p.m.; Event 7 p.m.

Language:  Māori with English Subtitles.
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THE EXPERIENCE

Presented in partnership with PICA’s TBA Festival and Boom Arts, The Untold Tales of Tuteremoana is a dramatic anthology, woven together by three Whakapapa stories of the ancient Ngāi Tara people. Each episode in this series is Māori led and told in te reo Māori language. Special guest actress Mere Tokorahi Boynton (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki & Ngāi Tūhoeof Aotearoa New Zealand), who stars in the third episode, will be present to discuss the films. Mere has a long list of credited roles including Jane Campion’s The Piano (1993) and Lee Tamahori’s Once Were Warriors (1994). A few days prior to this event, Mere will be performing in Portland-based artist Sam Hamilton’s experimental opera Te Moana Meridian: How the Prime Meridian Shapes the World, and the Case for Relocating It  also in partnership with PICA’s TBA Festival, Boom Arts, and the Portland Art Museum.

ON SCREEN: The Untold Tales Of Tūteremoana

2022. Directed by Hiona Henare. Produced by Sharlene George & RickyLee Russell. Runtime: 76 minutes. Rated PG. Language: Māori with English Subtitles. 

The Untold Tales Of Tūteremoana is a coming-of-age fantasy-drama trilogy born of the stars and rooted in the mountains, forests, rivers, and sand dunes of Aotearoa (New Zealand). The writer and director Hiona Henare recreates three oral stories taken from her own tribal histories, in a reawakening of traditional Māori storytelling. Each story centers around a young lead protagonist who must rise to the challenge and defend their people, land and customary practices. The Untold Tales Of Tūteremoana is 100% Māori and celebrates the renaissance of Hiona’s endangered native language. It features an all Māori cast with veterans of stage and screen, along with a new generation of emerging young talent who shine, and are at the heart of each of the three stories.

Part 1: Toiroa Circa 850 AD
FIRST PEOPLE is the story of Ka’o (11), a mountain patupaiarehe (fairy) who dwells in the Tararua ranges with Moe (45), her Toiroa nomadic father. Moe is dealing with the loss of his wife, Tira, and as father and daughter struggle to find healing in their daily karakia and ceremony, their relationship further deteriorates.

Part 2: Oriori Circa 1500 AD
Tiaki’s (14) older brother Tamatea (18) has the honor of being selected to retrieve the revered tohunga safely for the birthing of the chief’s heir. Tiaki scrambles to finish his pāke just in time for Tamatea’s departure. With his pāke in hand, Tiaki is sure the path will be clear for Tamatea to reunite the tohunga with their chief, allowing him to open the spiritual portal to deliver the heir and true purpose.

Part 3: Whiro Circa 1769 AD
Whiro (17) has just lost her beloved kuia but the villagers have not gathered at the sand dunes for her burial. All of Whiro’s whānau mourns except Whiro; she is unable to wail and watches from the dunes above. Embarrassed by her behavior, Whiro’s aunties accuse Tita (35), her frail mother, of not raising Whiro to respect tradition and are wondering why the villagers haven’t attended their well respected mothers tangi.

ON STAGE: Mere Tokorahi Boynton & Mandy Yeahpau

Mere Tokorahi Boynton
Mere Tokorahi Boynton is a multi talented performance artist, singer, actor, and MC. She has had formal training in voice and developed her own unique style of performing that draws upon classical training and her Māori heritage.  

Some of her most memorable singing engagements to date have been performing in Gareth Farr’s Te Papa, which was composed for the opening of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; singing and touring nationwide in the dance opera Jerusalem by Michael Parmenter; singing in the film Te Tangata Whairawa o Weneti (The Māori Merchant of Venice); and singing the lead role Taranga in ‘Maui One Man Against the Gods’ (2006). Boynton also performed with the avant-garde theater company MAU at the Vienna Mozart Festival in Requiem (2006) which was commissioned by Artistic Director Peter Sellars for the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart. Requiem was also presented in Brussels, Auckland, London and New York. In 2008 she performed in the NZIAF opera production ‘The Trial of the Cannibal Dogs’ by composer Matthew Suttor, and also performed in Ex Stasis by Gareth Farr and The Three Cornered Hat by Manuella de Falla with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. 

In 2013 Boynton sang in Jack Body’s ‘Songs and Dances of Desire’ with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra for the Auckland Arts Festival and Tokyo, Japan. Also that year, she performed again with MAU in the acclaimed all Māori women production Stones in Her Mouth and I Am a commemoration of the First World War Centenary WW100 in Europe, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In 2021 she collaborated with composer Gareth Farr and taonga puoro (Māori musical instruments) artist Ariana Tikao to compose and perform Ngā Hihi o Matariki with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

In 2005 Boynton released her album Waikohu, which is a collaboration with composer/percussionist Gareth Farr; this recording features an eclectic range of compositions which have been given different vocal and musical treatments, from kapahaka (cultural performance) to classical string quartet with karanga (call of welcome). Her next album release was Aroha/Ahava at the Auckland Arts Festival 2015, a collaboration with composer Jonathan Besser which explores the expression of aroha (love).  

As an actor she is well known for her portrayal of the character Mavis in Once Were Warriors and has also performed in several other films for cinema and television including The Piano and more recently the full feature Deadlands, Hinekura, a short film in te reo Māori, (Māori language), Colonial Combat a television series in te reo Māori and The Untold Tales of Tūteremoana also in te reo Māori. Most recently, she acted in the acclaimed Witi’s Wāhine, a theater work written and directed by Nancy Brunning for the Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival.

Mandy Yeahpau, Indigenous Media Guild | Moderator

Mandy Yeahpau is a dedicated member of the Indigenous Media Guild, born and raised in Southern Oregon. She holds a B.A. in Convergent Media and Communications with an emphasis in Video Production from Southern Oregon University. Of Comanche, Cherokee, and Tarahumara descent, Mandy serves on the Roundhouse Indigenous Advisory Committee. Her career is driven by a commitment to uplifting Native peoples and showcasing their strengths and knowledge, which has guided her journey as an award-winning journalist and independent filmmaker.