Mārama

Victorian England, 1859. Young Māori woman Mary Stevens travels from New Zealand to a remote manor in the North Yorkshire countryside to learn more about her family history. Upon arrival Sir Natanial Cole, a wealthy former whaler and master of the house, seems to not only speak her language, but to have surrounded himself with stolen artifacts from her culture. Mary discovers there is more to his fascination with her background. Ominous visions and shadows on the wall suddenly transform the stately manor into a gruesome setting from which Mary cannot easily escape. Mārama seamlessly combines historical drama with dark folk horror. What begins as a quest for identity turns into a spine-chilling mystery about colonialism and cultural appropriation that forces the audience to confront hard truths.

Mārama is the feature film debut of director Taratoa Stappard, who also wrote the screenplay. The film premiered last year in the Discovery program at the Toronto International Film Festival. In addition, it won Best Fantastic Feature at the Imagine Film Festival in Amsterdam and received the Grand Jury Prize in Seattle.

Taratoa Stappard will give a Q&A following the Thursday evening screening, and will participate in the Memmetaal panel on Thursday afternoon, discussing ownership, cultural codes, and responsibility.