2022
Documentary

Kava o' Aotearoa

Joshua Teariki Baker
A collective of Pasifika cultural guardians reactivate ancient Tu’i Tonga kava ceremony for contemporary use in Aotearoa in a way that honours tangata whenua.

The Film Makers

Joshua Teariki Baker

Director

Josh Teariki Baker is a Cook Islands Māori freelance filmmaker, film festival director and an emerging Pasifika writer and director. In his six years working in the screen sector, he has worked for production companies Tikilounge Productions, Sweetshop and Green, Intergalactic Productions/Netflix NZ, Maori Television and many more. Josh aims to use his craft to tell Pasifika stories for an international audience.

Maria Tanner

Producer

Maria Tanner is a Creative Producer from and of the Cook Islands. She has cut content in Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, and the wider pacific. More recently Maria has Co-Produced the anthology Teine Sa, for Prime and Coconet, Lead Produced The Feijoa Club, S2, and is driving a slate of independent short films, including Kava 'o Aotearoa, to screens. Nowadays you will find Maria in Tamaki Makaurau connecting with innovative POC creatives to foster authentic stories told with gusto.