cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18164065
Production is now under way in New Zealand on “Marama,” a gothic horror film from Māori writer-director Taratoa Stappard (“Taumanu, Emkhatsini”). Production is taking place around Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island and in the South Island’s Otago region.
Set in North Yorkshire, England, in 1859, “Marama” is the story of a young Māori woman’s fight to reclaim her identity and indigenous culture in Victorian-era Britain. The film title comes from the woman’s name.
The film features Māori actor Ariana Osborne (“Madam,” “In A Flash”) in the lead role, alongside British actor Toby Stephens (“Black Sails,” “Die Another Day,” “Percy Jackson and The Olympians”) who has recently wrapped principal photography on the project.
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“This film will be confronting, bloody and entirely unique, and I’m excited to be forging a new genre: Māori gothic horror,” said Stappard, who lives in the U.K. and whose lineage includes the Māori tribes Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Tuwharetoa.