The Cinematheque

“It is powerful and chilling, and directed by Lee Tamahori with such narrative momentum that we are swept along in the enveloping tragedy of the family’s life.”

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

In the first of two editions of Our Stories to Tell devoted to Indigenous classics this cycle, we present the acclaimed feature debut of Māori filmmaker Lee Tamahori, who passed away in November. An adaptation of Alan Duff’s novel, Once Were Warriors follows an urban Māori whānau (or family)—Beth Heke (Rena Owen), her husband Jake ​“the Muss” (Temuera Morrison), and their five children—as they grapple with intergenerational trauma that lives in the form of alcoholism, domestic violence, and gang life. Many Indigenous families across the world who are actively experiencing the effects of settler colonialism can identify with this story. Witness the Heke family, descendants of Māori warriors, fight against the ongoing legacy of poverty, dispossession, and disenfranchisement that have fractured untold Indigenous households.

In English and Māori with English subtitles

Advisory: Once Were Warriors contains scenes of sexual violence and suicide.

Post-screening discussion with former BC MLA Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak (Melanie Mark).

“An emotionally raw, visually stylish first feature, with the intensity of the best social melodrama.”

Nigel Floyd, Time Out