First Horse

Aotearoa, 1826. A dying man makes his way home through sand dunes on horseback. Meanwhile, a young Māori girl weaves a toy waka (boat) while reciting a chant in the ancient traditions of her tribe. She ventures off through the forest to launch her waka in a quick-running stream. Led astray in her pursuit of the waka, the girl finds herself at the foot of a giant sand dune, the boundary of a great burial ground. A flock of birds scatter from the treetops, alerting her to approaching danger, and she takes cover. From her hiding place in the reeds, the girl spies upon the sickly, dying man and a Taniwha! A mythical creature. This is the first horse she has ever seen. The girl steps out from her hiding place to offer her waka as a gift to console the man and get closer to the horse. In an unexpected moment of contact, the dying man realises he may have inadvertently passed on his disease to the girl. Seeing her fascination with the horse, the man offers her a final indulgence – a trade of her waka for his horse. The two set off on a joyous gallop through the dunes, and as they complete their trade, the man is faced with the dark dilemma – let her go and spread the disease further, or take her life and end the disease there.

Film Content Advisory: Implied Suicide

Credits
Writer: Awanui Simich-Pene, Heperi MIta
Producer: Mia Henry-Teirney, Puti Simich, Heperi Mita
Director of Photography: Fred Renata
Editor: Cushla Dillon
Production Designer: Rakeiuekaha Kingi
Music: Troy Kingi
Sound Designer: Alexis Feodoroff
Composer: Kararaina Rangihau

Plays in

Pacific Cinewaves: Sites of Memory in Oceania

For this year’s LAAPFF’s Pacific Cinewaves program, we invite you on a journey to witness the cinematic narratives of six Pasifika storytellers as they grapple with themes of family, grief, identity, dispossession and memory.