A Māori gothic horror film set in Northern England has received a major honour in Canada. Mārama, written and directed by Taratoa Stappard, won the Best Dramatic Feature award at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in Toronto. In-theatre screenings ended on Monday but the festival continues online until June 14.
Mārama is about a young woman named Mary (Ariāna Osborne) who travels from Aoteoroa New Zealand to North Yorkshire in Victorian England after receiving a letter suggesting that this trek will unlock the mystery of what happened to her biological family.
Osborne, who stars in the film, received imagineNative’s award for Outstanding Performance in a Feature. Director Stappard’s mother is Māori and his father was English, and Mārama is his first feature film.
Watch the trailer below.
The festival’s Documentary Feature Award in honour of Alanis Obomsawin went to Aanikoobijigan [ancestor / great-grandparent / great-grandchild]. Directed by Ojibwe brothers Adam and Zack Khalil, their film shows how the Michigan Aninishinaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance has fought for the repatration of ancestors’ remains and sacred belongings from museums, libraries, and archives.
And renowned Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri won the imagineNATIVE award for Outstanding Performance in a Short for his performance as a fisherman suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in “Gaza Bride 17”.
Read the complete list of awards below.
Moon Jury Award: Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawer of Rocks)
Louise Flaherty
Indigenous Language Production Award: Shaaghan Neekwaii (Two Old Women)
Princess Daazhraii Johnson
After Dark Award: Klee
Gavin Baird
Live Action Short Award: Jülapüin Yonna (The Dream of Dance)
Luzbeidy Monterrosa Atencio
Dramatic Feature Award: Mārama
Taratoa Stappard
Outstanding Performance in a Feature: Mārama
Ariāna Osborne
Outstanding Performance in a Short: Gaza Bride 17
Saleh Bakri
Sun Jury Award: AKI
Darlene Naponse
New Voice in Storytelling Award: Are You Native?
Victoria Cheyenne
Documentary Short Award: IXIM (el amor no tiene género)
Alex PV
Documentary Feature Award: Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]
Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil
Innovation in Storytelling Award: WAT WAS HIE?
Luke De Kock
Animated Short Award: I Duok om I Bohuntung – The Owl and the Rainbow
Jo Luping
New Artist in Digital + Interactive Award: Kinship Table, la taab di li vwaazayn
Robyn Adams
Digital + Interactive Award: Toroa: Skycall
Atawhai Interactive
Experimental Audio Award: Radiant Starlets (Original Soundtrack) | DR3AM ON
Alexander Jeffrey Walker
Narrative Audio Award: Words and Culture | It Takes a Village
Kim Wheeler
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