Ever the Land

Kete Aronui film club presents Ever the Land, a documentary exploring the sublime bond between people and their land through a landmark undertaking of design and construction by the passionately independent Ngāi Tūhoe.

The film captures a period of change and tremendous foresight: Tūhoe are negotiating an apology and settlement from the Crown and constructing Te Kura Whare, an architectural gem using radically sustainable methods. Tradition and environmentalism are brought together, and the film gives us a stirring depiction of Indigenous pride. The new building is the binding character in this observational documentary that immerses us in a culture that is tightly woven into its land and an architecture that is defined by its intergrity to it. This is a film about past and future, tradition and modernity. Most of all, though, it’s about the grandest hopes—and what it takes to fulfill them.

Kete Aronui film club is a free film programme held at Gus Fisher Gallery every second Thursday of the month, made possible with the help of Auckland Council.