NZ short film ‘Warbrick’ honoured in Montreal

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Wednesday, 23rd June 2010

NZ short film ‘Warbrick’ honoured in Montreal

New Zealand film making brothers Meihana and Pere Durie have been awarded the TEUEIKAN prize at Montreal First People’s Film Festival in Canada.

Warbrick is a short drama based on the true story of Joe Warbrick and the 1888 New Zealand Natives rugby tour of Great Britain. Set in London 1889, Joe Warbrick – the captain of the physically exhausted New Zealand Natives rugby team - must inspire his side to play, or risk forfeiting the test match against England.

The Teueikan award, which refers to a sacred shamanic drum in the Innu language, is 2nd prize overall, where short films and features are awarded in the same category. It is awarded based on the jury’s judgement of the artistic and creative quality of the film

Warbrick is written and directed by Meihana and Pere Durie and produced by Mina Mathieson.

The Montreal First People’s Festival celebrates indigenous cultures and their stories with the aim of encouraging first nation artists to represent their cultures to a wider national and international community.  

The judges commented that though in Montreal they were not familiar with the characters of Warbrick they could associate strongly with the universal themes common to many first nation cultures ’Resilience, in spite of the odds, obstacles, difficulties, exhaustion, unfairness, inequity.’

Warbrick won ‘Best Short Film’ at the 2009 Wairoa Maori Film Festival in New Zealand.

Warbrick was made with finance from the Short Film Fund of the NZ Film Commission.  International sales are handled by NZ Film, which is the sales arm of the NZFC.

For more information on the Montreal First People’s Film Festival visit their website: http://www.nativelynx.qc.ca/10/en/index.html
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