2023 Native Spirit Festival 12 October – 7 November — programme announcements


OPENING NIGHT Thursday 12 October 8.00pm — UK Premiere Bones of Crows

Tickets £10.40-14.90 — The Gate Picturehouse, Notting Hill W11 3JZ

 


Tuesday 17 October 8pm — Pacific Filmmakers Triple Bill
Q&A Taratoa Stappard, Thomas Mullen, Nina Nawalowalo

Tickets £10-12 — The Garden Cinema, Covent Garden WC2B 5EF

Taumanu (Reclaim) – Taratoa Stappard, 22′ 2022 | New Zealand. 1929. When a parcel is delivered to a colonial manor house, mysterious Māori performers arrive to reclaim the contents. Soon the Māori head butler finds himself drawn into bloody, century-old vengeance.

The Brylcreem Boys – Rafer Rautjoki, 15′ 2022 | Kara is tasked with discovering why her Uncle’s first love abandoned him on the opening night of his band’s national tour.

European Premiere
A Boy Called Piano – The Story of Fa’amoana John Luafutu – Nina Nawalowalo | 57′ 2021 | 57 min | Arriving to New Zealand from Samoa as a young child in the 1950s, Fa’amoana was taken from his family and placed in state care, suffering terrible abuse alongside thousands of other Pacific and        children. This documentary explores his journey through state care, prison, gang membership, as well as the intergenerational impacts of these experiences; and ultimately, healing for Fa’amoana and his Family through harnessing the power of his voice as a storyteller.

 


Wednesday 18 October 7pm — Whetū Mārama – Bright Star
Q&A (online) Dir. Toby Mills, Aileen O’Sullivan

Tickets £5 — David Lean Cinema, Croydon Clocktower Arts Centre CR9 1ET

 


Monday 23 – Sunday 29 October — Film Programme & Exhibition (details to follow)

Free — The Muse at 269 Portobello Road, W11 1LR

 


Friday 3 November 6.30pm — Yakutia Double Bill

Tickets £12 (event link to follow) — Pushkin House, Bloomsbury WC1A 2TA

 


Sunday 5 November 2.00 – 4.15pm — Turtle Island Tales : Torcheu Aachimow
12 Short films by Wapikoni Mobile filmmakers curated by Jack Belhumeur attending in-person +Q&A (online) Réal Junior Leblanc, Isabelle Kanapé.

Tickets £10-12.50 (event link to follow) — Bertha Dochouse Curzon Bloomsbury, WC1N 1AW

 


CLOSING NIGHT International Inuit Day — Tuesday 7 November 7.00pm

Tickets £5-9 (event link to follow) — Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP), Oxford OX4 1BN

 




Kensington & Chelsea Arts Week: Caribbean to Canada

Native Spirit presents an online rolling programme and curated playlist of Free and On-Demand films by Native filmmakers and artists from Caribbean to Canada celebrating National Indigenous History Month; and the fascinating rituals and history of Trinidad & Tobago ‘Carnival: The Sound of a People’ with Caribbean Heritage Trailblazer, Associate Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Michigan State University, the highly acclaimed Etienne Charles. 24 June – 4 July 2021 KCAW Event details — CLICK HERE