Rain of the Children

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Rain of the Children is a 2008 feature film written, directed and produced by Vincent Ward. The true and extraordinary life story of a woman who was raised as a tribal princess and came to believe she was cursed...

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[edit] Synopsis

Vincent Ward's deeply personal and incredibly moving film unravels and re-imagines the story of Puhi, the Tuhoe woman he documented in 1978 for his early film In Spring One Plants Alone. Then she was 80 and caring for her schizophrenic adult son, and Ward was 21, a young art student capturing her traditional way of life. While not the subject of his earlier film, Puhi believed herself to be cursed, and this unknowable curse is what preoccupies Ward now. Puhi, he discovers, was an extraordinary woman. Chosen by Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana to marry his son, she survived the 1916 police raid on Rua's Maungapohatu community and went on to have 14 children. Cutting between early footage, his own to-camera narration, contemporary interviews with Tuhoe descendents, and magnificently recreated historical sequences (featuring Rena Owen as the older Puhi among a superb cast of Maori actors); Ward reveals both the heartrending background of Puhi's belief in the curse, and her lasting power over him. – Clare Stewart director, [Sydney Film Festival] 2008

[edit] Cast

  • Rena Owen, star of Once Were Warriors features as Puhi Tatu. Miriama Rangi, Mikaira Tawhara Harmony Wihapi and Melody Wihapi all play Puhi at different stages of her life, along with other Tuhoe actresses.
  • Waihoroi Shortland plays the part of Puhi's adult son Niki.
  • Other featured cast include Taungaroa Emile, Mahue Tawa, Katarina Nohopai Tangiwai, Kimikimi Mane and Ray Pomare.
  • Many Tuhoe descendants played parts, recreating scenes their ancestors had experienced.
  • Key Tuhoe elders and historians are interviewed in the film.

[edit] Production

Rain of The Children was filmed on location deep in Tuhoe country in the Urewera ranges in New Zealand. The production returned to the places Puhi had lived and the sacred mountain, Maungapohatu, where traces of Rua's community still remain.

[edit] Release

Rain of The Children's world premiere is at the Sydney Film Festival (In Competition) on 7th June. It opens in other festivals around the world shortly after, and will open to international theatrical release in late 2008.

[edit] External links

IMDB [1] Sydney Film Festival [2] New Zealand International Film Festival [3]