E Oho! The Te Kooti Trail

A special ‘live cinema’ event to mark Te Pūtake o te Riri, He Rā Maumahara – our national day of commemoration of the NZ Land Wars. The Te Kooti Trail (1927) will be accompanied with live taonga pūoro interpretation by Jerome Kavanagh Poutama and pianist Deakin Palmer. 

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is delighted to co-present this screening with the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata in support of the exhibition He Riri Awatea: Filming the New Zealand Wars and the National Library E Oho! Waitangi 2022 series.

Inspired by New Zealand’s 'rough-hewn story', filmmaker Rudall Hayward used events from New Zealand history in his big-screen adaptations. Hayward adapted his screenplay from an account in James Cowan’s history The New Zealand Wars (1922). At Te Poronu, near Whakatāne, Te Kooti’s forces besiege a mill, killing miller Jean Guerrin and taking his wife, Erihapeti and her sister, Monika captive. Monika defies Te Kooti, refusing to reveal where Jean has buried his ammunition. A diverse cast included many with iwi connections to — and even personal experience of — the historical events. Billed as New Zealand’s ‘greatest production’, The Te Kooti Trail had its world premiere at the Strand Theatre, Auckland on 17 November 1927.

Along with piano accompaniment by Deakin Palmer, this performance is accompanied and interpreted by the prominent taonga pūoro artist Jerome Kavanagh Poutama, which will bring a new dimension to this important early New Zealand film.

Come early to secure the best seat!

ANNABEL COOPER is co-curator for the exhibition He Riri Awatea: Filming the New Zealand Wars and author of Filming the Colonial Past: The New Zealand Wars on Screen (Otago University Press, 2018).