Wairoa Maori Film Festival Leo Koziol Wairoa Maori Film Festival time-wasters Wairoa New Zealand

It appears that Mr Koziol has recently become Saint Leo (just what we need, another egotistical deity). The truth is that Mr Koziol lives in Auckland, which is very westernised I'm afraid. Mr Koziol's family reiceives large sums of Government money for his 3 day self-serving event.

Furthermore, none of the Koziols have ever made a feature film (or worked professionally in the film industry). But, that doesn't stop them from 'judging films' from around the world.

My advice is to stay away from this family's event.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your kind thoughts regarding the Wairoa Maori Film Festival.

Yes, we are a largely family-run operation, but that is how the Maori people function, as tribes of commonly related people who honour the heritage of the past.

We in the past have played films in a cinema. But we decided to host the festival in a Marae, a traditional Maori meeting house founded in tradition. If I can be honest, we are not a Film Festival in the Western sense of philosophy. We do not exist to make money by getting as many patrons as possible through the door. We do not exist so that film makers can tick a box, pick up their laurels, and then move on to the next festival on the circuit and say goodbye with no bye nor leave; or indeed to go away and say such cruel things as yourself.

The traditional Marae meeting house is an embodiment of our ancient ancestor, whose name was Kahungunu. If you so indeed entered into our festival and experienced it as you have written, then your comments have been dishonourable and your attendance at the festival is retrospectively unwelcome.

Yes, the festival is in winter and we do not have funds for heating, but we do our best with limited resources. All our guests now stay at the hot pools and warm themselves every evening in mineral waters that have flowed for millenia.

The location is miles away from civilisation, but actually our roads are paved. That is the point of the festival. Away from the noise of Western destruction of the planet, this little film festival exists as a beacon of hope for the future.

Your message to "all filmmakers" is strange. We are a Maori and indigenous film festival. We primarily screen and welcome entries from film makers who identify as indigenous, not all and sundry. We do not want to be part of an international film festival machine, but want to consciously exist outside of this paradigm.

I guess our ongoing support from our New Zealand government reflects how progressive and ahead of the times New Zealand is. A recent Social Progress report ranked New Zealand at the top; we gave women the vote first, we have gay marriage, we have human rights for primates, we have progressive environmental poiicies, and in the film world - we have a voice that sparks vastly ahead of our tiny 4 million people. Lord of the Rings, anyone?

Kindest of Regards,

Leo Koziol
Festival Director
Wairoa Maori Film Festival
kiaora.tv maorimovies@gmail.com