City Talks: Ever the Land screening
Interior of the tribal hall at Te Uru Taumatua, Te Wharehou o Tūhoe, subject of the Ever the Land documentary.
Celebrating the opening of Aotearoa’s first ‘living building’.
City Talks celebrates Matariki — the Māori New Year — with a special screening of Ever the Land, a documentary that tracks the birth of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first ‘living building’, Te Uru Taumatua, Te Wharehou o Tūhoe.
For the past 150 years, longstanding grievances over extreme colonisation tactics such as illegal land confiscation and scorched earth policies have defined the relationship between Tūhoe and the New Zealand government. Then, in 2014 history was made: Te Urewera, Tūhoe’s ancestral homelands were returned, the New Zealand government gave an official apology, and Tūhoe built the first-ever “Living Building” in Aotearoa.
Ever the Land explores the sublime bond between a people and their land through a landmark architectural undertaking by one of New Zealand’s most passionately independent Māori tribes, Ngāi Tūhoe, and one of architecture’s most dedicated and passionate practitioners, the late Ivan Mercep.
Sarah Grohnert originally trained as an editor in her native Germany before studying directing at the Arts Institute Bournemouth, UK. Sarah emigrated to New Zealand in 2010 and has since been working on a number of award-winning projects across film and television. Ever the Land is her first feature documentary as director.
The screening will be followed by refreshments. Film running time: 90 minutes. This event is free and starts at 6pm.