- [Announcer] This series was created in partnership with the Sundance Institute.

More information at sundance.org Funding for "Native Shorts" was made possible by a generous grant from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and from viewers like you.

(bold drumming music) ♪ (singing in indigenous language) ♪ ♪ ♪ - [Bird] "Native Shorts", presented by Sundance Institute's Indigenous Program.

- [Ariel] Hello, and welcome to "Native Shorts".

I'm Ariel Tweto.

- [Bird] And, I'm Bird Runningwater.

- On today's episode, we are watching two films.

The first one is "Hawaiki", and the second one is "Fainting Spells".

Bird, first of all, you are looking fabulous!

- Aw, thanks!

- Shucks.

Feeling a little fancy pants.

- Oh, yeah.

Fancy...pants!

(Bird laughing) - Yes.

- This is gonna be an exciting one.

And, we're bringing the excitement in our wardrobe today.

- Yes.

Well, you look great, as well.

- Oh, thank you.

- Very fuzzy.

- Yeah, I feel fuzzy.

- So-?

- "Hawaiki".

- "Hawaiki"!

"Hawaiki" is a film by Nova Paul, who comes from the Auckland region of New Zealand, Aotearoa, in the indigenous Maori language.

She is a filmmaker, writer, and a researcher.

And, this was filmed in 16-millimeter, actual film, which is becoming more and more rare these days.

So, that's kind of exciting.

- It is.

It sort of looks like someone's old, like, home videos.

- Right.

(chuckles) - Like a parent was spying on their kids!

- Yeah.

- But, we should dive in to it and then we'll come back and break it down.

- Let's do it.

- Please enjoy "Hawaiki".

(film machine whirring/clattering) ♪ (narrator speaking in Maori language) (narrator speaking in Maori language) [droning keyboard music] ♪ (children chattering indistinctly) - I'm gonna try climb up that big one.

(children chattering/playing) - I've never been forced to play somewhere before.

(kids laughing/chattering) - Who's scared of heights?

- Not me.

I am scared if I need to jump!

- So, I said to the dude who was saying like, "Oh, do you want a thing?"

I was like, "Can I sign up for?

Maybe?"

He was like-- He was like, "Yeah, sure.

"Just say your name and then you just say if you wanna do it or not."

And then, so I did.

And then, I was like, "Oh, I don't wanna do it."

He was like, "No, too late for that!

You have to do it."

And then, the dude just yelled out.

He was like... (mimics stern Maori language) (birds singing) - Guys?

Guys!

Come here.

We have to go back.

- Yeah, I know.

- So, guys, where are we gonna build our hut?

- Right there.

- Yeah, we're sneaking in.

- Are we making one big one?

- Yeah.

(children chattering/playing) ♪ [gentle keyboard music] ♪ (birds chirping) (children chattering) ♪ (birds chirping) (grass rustling) (kids chattering indistinctly) ♪ (kids yelling) (indistinct voices) - Well, I'm gonna just try and find a spot for that!

(birds chirping) - Wait.

Imagine the hut over there?

- Just here.

Do you wanna help?

You wanna make something?

- Sure.

Let's go.

- No, they're making that themselves.

- Oh.

They'll be like, case of sticks now since someone even have us.

- Okay.

Go.

- You guys get a head start.

- Come on, Layla.

Come on, Layla.

Let's go!

- Come on!

(clacking branches) - Geez!

What?

- Wait.

Stop, stop.

(birds singing) - Oh, geez.

- Oh, careful.

Don't hit me!

- I'm done.

(children singing in Maori language) (sticks/leaves rustling) ♪ (birds chirping) ♪ (rustling leaves) [kids speaking indistinctly] (birds chirping) - Don't mess it up.

We're trying to match that up.

♪ (leaves rustling) (kids chattering/singing) (branches knocking together) ♪ - Why?

Does he need help?

(branches/leaves rustling) (indistinct chattering) ♪ (birds chirping) ♪ (leaves/branches rustling) - This here can be my spot when we do, like, our own rooms in the tree.

This is where I was.

♪ (children chattering) (birds chirping) ♪ (children chattering/laughing) (children chattering) - Look it!

(chattering) ♪ (child singing indiscernibly) - It took five years to do that.

- The Hawaiians come over here to grab some sticks for fighting.

- No, I don't like it when they do that.

We'll just steal them all back here.

(children chattering) (birds chirping) - Can you get out so I can see?

(children chattering) - Aw, yeah.

Go like this!

(children laughing) (child humming) (children chattering) ♪ (birds chirping) ♪ (children humming/singing) - Yeah.

Wait.

Hold them and we can swing at the same time.

3, 2, 1.

Whoop!

(laughter) - Aha!

(laughter) - I can't even do it!

(singing) - I think I'm gonna drop.

(plop!)

Ohh?!

I didn't even know that there was a rule.

(laughter) - I just dropped and I thought I was gonna fit in!

(laughter) (soft chattering) (laughter) - Let go of my hand!

(sings "I Feel Good", James Brown) ♪ - I feel good.

♪ ♪ I know that I should.

♪ ♪ Na-na, na-na, na, na, na!

♪ ♪ I feel good!

Yeah!

♪ - Oh, what they doing with the mat?

- Guys, look at the mat.

- Huh?

- Look at the mat.

It looks pretty good.

- Augh?

Augh?

(teetering) - Stick mat.

I'm the only one.

(leafy rustling noises) - So annoying!

(leafy rustling noises) [soft organ music] ♪ - Where are we gonna put this once we're done with it?

- In the hut.

- In the hut, on the ground.

- Okay.

- In the entrance.

It says where it says welcome, like this.

- Um, how long is the mat gonna be?

- 'Cause we're kinda actually gonna do a mega-mega giant one.

(chuckling) - We need to use the whole tree.

- Even the ones up high.

♪ - Guys?

- What?

- What's...this?

- I want to...go like this.

♪ (kids laughing) (sings) - 'Cause we need it more.

- I just wanna, ♪ I just wanna have some fun.

♪ ♪ Jump in the river and enjoy the sun.

♪ - My bad.

- Let's jump in the pool.

- No, let's jump in the river.

(chattering) ♪ - Jump in the river and enjoy the sun.

♪ (child humming) ♪ (rustling leafy fabric) (children laughing) - Aw, you farted!

(kids laughing/heckling) - No, you're like-- (blows raspberry) - You farted!

(laughter) - Just this side, it's sunny on everyone's bum.

It goes down to here, you know?

And then, goes... (blows raspberry) (kids chattering in background) (birds chirping) (kids chattering in background) - Whenever we wanted.

It's still at Ed's house, though.

(kids laughing) (background chatter) - It's okay!

It's okay if we-- - Everyone had stuff in it!

(laughing) (indistinct background chatter) - You know what?

Hey, for some reason, I thought you wouldn't go-- - You gonna go with him?

(indistinct chatter) - I would.

(birds singing) - What did I get?

- I don't know... (birds singing) (calm organ music; long tones) ♪ (bright soft saxophone/ organ tones) ♪ ♪ (softer organ tones) ♪ ♪ (music fades) - [Ariel] Ah!

I love that sound.

Kids playing, birds chirping.

- Right?

- It's almost like you are sort of spying on the kids, like a little fly on the wall.

- [Bird] Well, apparently the playground is called "Hawaiki."

And, Hawaiki is the ancestral home, like this spiritual ancestral home where all Maori come from.

And, it's a place that they go back to after they leave this world.

- Okay.

- After they pass.

- And so, I think there are a lot of inferences.

If you kind of listen to the children and you're kind of watching them, they're doing their weaving, you know, with the flax plant, which in Maori is called harakeke.

I know that because it was one of the first words I learned when I went to New Zealand!

- Say it again?

- "Harakeke."

- Harakeke.

And, you know?

And so, there's a lot of kind of inferences that I think are very specific to Maori, and Maori culture and also the youth.

And, you know, just the metaphor.

I think we're seeing so many common themes amongst so many of our films that we're watching and screening is like this kind of sometimes maybe quiet advocacy or quiet encouragement to kind of return to you know, the peoples who we were originally were before colonization.

- No, it's nice that you're not like yelling in someone's faces about what you should do.

It is like a very subtle message or like a offering to the viewers.

- Well, shall we watch our next film?

- We should!

Next one is called "Fainting Spells".

Can you tell us a little bit about it?

- Yes.

Well, the director of "Fainting Spells", Sky Hopinka.

He's a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and a descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño people, as well.

And, you know, his two previous films were "Jáaji Approx."

and "Vision of an Island", too.

I don't know if you remember those films?

- I do.

- He kind of has a very specific kind of voice and style, and-?

Well, I don't wanna say too much.

Let's just go ahead and watch the film.

- Okay.

Let's do it.

Enjoy, "Fainting Spells".

(film machine whirring/clattering) [soulful electric guitar] ♪ (fire crackling) ♪ [woman singing] ♪ Go, my son ♪ ♪ Go and climb the ladder.

♪ ♪ Go, my son ♪ ♪ Go and earn your feather.

♪ ♪ Go, my son ♪ ♪ Make your people proud of you.

♪ ♪ Work, my son ♪ ♪ Get an education.

♪ ♪ Work, my son ♪ ♪ Learn a good vocation and ♪ ♪ climb, my son.

♪ ♪ Go and take a lofty view.

♪ ♪ From on the ladder of an education ♪ ♪ You can see to help your Indian Nation, ♪ ♪ And reach, my son ♪ ♪ And lift your people up with you.

♪ [jolting flute music] ♪ (two flutes playing; high-low) ♪ ♪ (high flute swelling sounds) ♪ (softer lead flute) ♪ (high flute over recurring low flute melody ♪ (recurring low flute melody) (high flute soaring over low melody) ♪ ♪ ♪ (strong lead flute) ♪ (loud long flute) ♪ ♪ (high flute soaring over low melody) ♪ ♪ ♪ (two flutes playing different melodies) ♪ ♪ (air rushing sounds) (two flutes playing different melodies) ♪ ♪ (high flute playing long tone) ♪ (flute music fades) (soft rumbling percussion music) ♪ ♪ (soft rumbling percussion music) ♪ (rhythmic shaking percussion sounds) ♪ (low bass drone) ♪ (low bass drone) (rhythmic shaking percussion) ♪ ♪ (low bass drone) (rhythmic shaking percussion) ♪ (ominous low bass tones) ♪ ♪ (low bass drone) (rhythmic shaking percussion) ♪ ♪ (low bass drone) (rhythmic shaking percussion) ♪ ♪ (low drone changing pitch) ♪ (rhythmic shaking percussion) ♪ (low bass drone) (rhythmic shaking percussion) ♪ (rhythmic shaking percussion) ♪ (faster rattling percussion) ♪ (heartbeat drum rhythm) ♪ (rattling/shaking percussion) (fierce wind blowing) (rattling percussion) ♪ (string instrument plucking) (fierce wind blowing) (louder string instrument plucking) ♪ (grainy sounds) ♪ (distorted finger picking music) ♪ (grainy sounds) (warbly finger picking music) ♪ ♪ ♪ (grainy sounds) (watery finger picking music) ♪ ♪ (watery finger picking music) ♪ ♪ (grainy sounds) (watery finger picking music) ♪ ♪ (audio clicking/thumping) [soulful electric guitar/ bass music] ♪ [woman vocalizing] ♪ Go, my son ♪ ♪ Go and climb the ladder.

♪ ♪ Go, my son ♪ ♪ Go and earn your feather.

♪ ♪ Go, my son ♪ ♪ Make your people proud of you.

♪ ♪ Work, my son ♪ ♪ Get an education.

♪ ♪ Work, my son ♪ ♪ Learn a good vocation and ♪ ♪ climb, my son.

♪ ♪ Go and take a lofty view.

♪ ♪ From on the ladder of an education ♪ ♪ You can see to help your Indian Nation, ♪ ♪ And reach, my son ♪ ♪ And lift your people up with you.

♪ [singer vocalizing] - [Ariel] Divulge!

(Bird laughs) - Well?

I mean, as I mentioned before, Sky Hopinka's work previously, he's experimental.

He's an experimental filmmaker.

He's always inspired by text, language, land, kind of connection, you know, to place.

The interesting thing about both of these films in this program really kind of demonstrate that a film can be anything.

- Yeah.

- If an artist has a vision and is driven to kind of execute that vision and tell a story, whatever it might be.

Maybe it might not even make sense to everybody, but it makes sense to them.

- Yeah.

- And, they're passionate about it and they do the hard work to actually make it.

You know?

- I think for, like, these type of films, you have to be a very active watcher.

Like there was times where there's so many words coming across the screen.

There's, like, two sentences going on at once - Yeah.

- In different ways.

And, I'm like, "Augh?!

(chuckles) How do I read it this fast?"

But, it definitely makes you think, and it makes you not a lazy watcher.

- And, there's a kind of a melancholy kind of tone to the print, the narrative that's embedded in the text.

You know?

It's like there's something really emotional there because he has all these layers of music, you know, the "Go, My Son" song.

You know, like the digital effects of people being pulled away off out of the frame, you know?

That ghostly figure that's peering into the camera.

Like, it's got so many things going on.

- Yeah.

The shadows and the colors and there's a lot of senses going on.

- Kind of fluorescence, in a way.

- Mm hm.

- Well, you know?

The music, the song is inspired by Chief Manuelito, who is a Navajo chief, who was all about education in order to become happy and successful.

- Oh, love it.

Well, that was very interesting.

- It's an interesting little tidbit.

- It is.

All the tidbits!

(Bird laughs) Well, that was so fun.

I can't wait for the next episode.

Had a great time.

I hope you all did, too.

Please come back for the next one.

(bold drumming music) - [Bird] Goodbye!

- [Ariel] Bye.

♪ - [Ariel] Today's wardrobe: the dress by Ro Tree, earrings by Phent Beads, ring by Tonya June Rafael.

♪ - [Bird] Today, I am wearing a shirt by Orlando Dugi, earrings by Ataumbi Metals, a gorget by Charley Johnson and ring by Cody Sanderson.

♪ - Hi...ya!

- Ching!

(Ariel and Bird laughing) - [Announcer] This series was created in partnership with the Sundance Institute.

More information at sundance.org Funding for "Native Shorts" was made possible by a generous grant from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and from viewers like you.