Conservation Week Film Festival
On August 18th, the WMP (supported by the Waiheke Collective) hosted an inspiring evening filled to the brim with a love for te taiao, indigenous ecological wisdom and regenerative action for a thriving marine ecosystem at the Waiheke Community Cinema. The evening started with the screening of two short films: one from friends of WMP in Chile (filmed by Portraits for Change) on local, small-scale fishing practices and ocean protection and the other showcasing indigenous-led ecological regeneration projects in Patagonia.
Both short films received animated applause and then guided the pre-film discussion by Jeanine Clarkin (NPKW) and Alice McSherry (Kaimahi hapori of WMP) on the various regenerative actions that we are currently engaged in closer to home on Waiheke Island, including our upcoming Kelp Gardener and Regenerative Dive projects this summer.
We want to extend our gratitude and solidarity to our new friends on the other side of the Pacific Ocean/Moana-nui-a-Kiwa for being so generous and sharing their hard work and wisdom with us. Thank you for doing all that you do for your local communities and joining us in the kaupapa of ecological regeneration and the tending of dreams for a thriving planet, with the next seven generations always in mind.
For those of you who missed the film festival back in August, you can still watch both of these shorts on Youtube – here are the links!
Both of these sister projects were first introduced to Jeanine and Mereana (NPKW) at IMPAC5 (International Marine Protected Areas Congress) held in Vancouver, Canada in February 2023. On that note, deep gratitude is extended to both the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Foundation North for making this opportunity to connect with the global network of Indigenous-led marine regeneration projects possible. The trip to IMPAC5 certainly added a new layer of meaning to the aphorism of ‘think global, act local!’
It is so heartening to bear witness to the many other small-scale, action-focused regenerative projects similar to those that we do with WMP. Developing all these new and emergent relationships with other passionate earth stewards only further prove that Indigenous peoples have always had the ecological solutions; it is just about paying careful attention, being courageous enough to lean into our collective histories of extractivism (of people and planet), and above all, committing to the contemporary weaving of relational and Indigenous worldviews into practice.
We concluded the night with a screening of Whetū Mārama – Bright Star, a stunning feature length documentary directed by Toby Mills and Aileen O’Sullivan about Sir Hekenukumai Ngaiwi Puhipi and his life’s mission of traditional voyaging across the Pacific Ocean. In the film, we get up close and personal with Sir Hek’s life, his passion for celestial navigation, and the legacy he has left for Te Ao Māori and the cultural revitalisation of oceanic cultures in contemporary times. It is an absolutely awe-inspiring film – if you get the chance to watch it, please do – you will not regret it!
The conservation week film festival ran over a total of four days, with each day showcasing a different aspect of the continued efforts on Waiheke Island by our community-powered efforts to restore our island bio- and cultural diversity. Thank you for everyone who came this year, and of course, a massive mihi to Saida Bruce, the coordinator of the Waiheke Collective, for organising the festival – we deeply look forward to another one next year!
Alice McSherry
Project Coordinator