‘It was about helping each other’: The Convert set to be released next week

New Zealand film The Convert is an opportunity for people to be reminded of what Aotearoa was like before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, says co-producer Te Kohe Tuhaka.

The Convert, set to be released on March 14, was shown to a small group of whānau and community members at the Odeon Cinema on Wednesday night. Director Lee Tamahori (Ngāti Porou), co-producer Te Kohe Tuhaka (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou) and lead actress Tioereore Ngatai-Melbourne (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tuhoe) were in attendance.

Tioreore Ngati-Melbourne (Te Whanau a Hinerupe)  grew up in Te Araroa.  She says playing the lead character Rangimai was a new challenge for her as it required a lot of dedication to the role.

“It was three months worth of mahi. Lee is very direct and knows what he wants — he will easily change things up if he feels like it needs to.”

Tioreore’s last role was in the film Whina where she played a younger version of Whina Cooper, but The Convert is her biggest role to date.

She auditioned for it in 2022 and thought she had done a terrible job. She cried to her sister afterwards, she said.

But she got the callback and “she is the star of the show”, said co-producer Te Kohe Tuhaka.

Tioreore said the filming process was rough and cold on location as they worked in terrible weather.

The film was shot in Whatipu, a remote coastal area west of Auckland and south of Karekare. They needed a spot far away from the urban spread of Auckland, something that was hard to find, said Te Kohe.

“The environment itself is another character in the film. It wasn’t like these settlers arrived on white sand beaches of Hawaii. They arrived on black sand beaches in New Zealand and it’s freezing and they are miserable.”

Te Kohe also has whakapapa to Tairāwhiti and grew up in Gisborne. This is his first time producing, from his usual roles of either acting or directing.

“The character Rangimai’s story goes from zero to 100 really quick,” he said. “Lee needed to know that the person who could play her could get there and get there quickly. He expects people to deliver. Tioerore was good from the outset.”

The story is fictional and set in 1830, prior to the Treaty, when Māori outnumbered settlers 1000 to one. It’s about the settlers’ early arrival and what they were promised from their own country compared with what they arrive to.

“Promised a land of milk and honey and you arrive on a beach and have to make your own way, miles and months away from where you came from, and you have to build a life,” Te Kohe said.

The film shows how two cultures come together but still operate in their own ways.

“Before the partnership there had to be a relationship, and the relationship was that these people were in a country that wasn’t their own and had to abide by the rules of the majority, of the Māori chiefs,” Te Kohe said.

“It’s a story of hope, revenge and the many cultural faux pas, the pākehā mindset versus Māori mindset and it’s about understanding during this period everything was black and white as in you did this, and this was the consequence.

“You can’t have partnership without relationships and early on, before the arrival of the Crown, Māori worked side by side with pākehā settlers. It was about helping each other to build a life, sharing knowledge, land and taonga — the key being the sharing.

“It wasn’t transactional. It was about looking after each other. It’s the transactional nature of the Crown’s arrival that changes that.

“I think this film is a good opportunity for people from all cultures to come and watch and have their humanity side awakened because it’s about human nature.”

The film stars Australians Guy Pearce and Jacqueline Mckenzie,  and New Zealanders Antonio Te Maioha and Lawrence Makoare. Sharing producing duties with Te Kohe Tuhaka are Robin Scholes, Andrew Mason and Troy Lum.