the Mystique of the Kauri
I AM
POEM BY KYLIE BRYERS
I am Kauri
.
King of the forest.
I am New Zealand
Ruler, since the birth of these islands.
For 2000 years I have stood
As the forests changed around me
I knew Kupe, the piopio, the moa
Yet I may not outlive you
I am Kauri
.
I watched you arrive
And still more came
You wear tattoos made of my ash
I carried you in my waka
And later in my ships
You’ve walked on my floors
and eaten from my tables
Your families have slept safe
under my rooves
I am Kauri
.
Beneath my shelter
a nation has formed
Rushing toward an unknown future
Is it a future without me?
I am Kauri
.
With my gum I protect myself
from injury and decay
Yet I have no protection from you
I’ve been depleted by your axes
Milled into dust
My bones shipped around the world
My gifts, squandered
scattered to the four corners
I stood silent. I asked for nothing
I’m asking you now.
I am Kauri
.
King of the forest
I am New Zealand
But I am more than a symbol.
I am your heritage.
Square Kauri photo by Greg Daly
I am...
Filmmaking workshop’s
documentary honours the kauri
A
Whitianga filmmaking workshop – led by award-winning producer/
director James Muir and sponsored by Creative Mercury Bay – met
over three weekends in March to face the challenge of learning the entire
scope of video filmmaking.
“Learning is the name of the game here!” stated Muir, and so they did – from
setting up the pro-quality camera, plotting the story, working with ‘actors’
in a documentary framework, capturing good sound ... and then editing the
final product.
Two teams – twelve in all, aged 13 to 50ish – worked on separate short
films with Muir as their mentor. Their first challenge was to dream
a theme for their project. One team chose the ‘kauri’. (During the
post-production, these students also benefited from the help of professional
editor, Koki Nishida, who demonstrated techniques to the team that brought
even more light and life to the moving images of the kauri.)
While the team discussed the variety of forms a film like this could take, one
team member, Kylie Bryers, was silent, busy writing. She eventually came
forward and read the poem she had been working on about this mighty ‘king
of the forest’: “I AM”
(see left)
.
“Yes, this was it”, the participants agreed. The team went on to refine the
poem, develop a script and shoot all the footage locally on the Coromandel.
Inspired by the kauri, the film took an artistic, even spiritual slant, a tribute
to these disappearing trees, rich with colours and natural textures. Young
Elizabeth Thompson (in photo above) became the wonderer, the innocent,
and we see the majestic kauri through her eyes.
The finished piece, shown to an enthusiastic full house at The Monkey
House in Whitianga, left viewers filled with love, awe and respect for these
magnificent trees. Muir expressed how impressed he was with the calibre
of the films produced by the students. With such a wonderful subject
and a talented pool of filmmakers, he plans to make a longer in-depth
documentary starring the Coromandel Kauri.
The very touching video ‘I Am’ and more about the upcoming Muir doco can
be viewed online at
www.kauri.org.nz.Meanwhile, CMB is certainly keen to
support further film-making initiatives in the Bay. See upcoming events at
www.creativemercurybay.co.nz. WWW.COROMANDELLIFE.CO.NZ17
Workshop leader and director James Muir films Elizabeth Thompson admiring
a giant Coromandel kauri for their poetic documentary.