MEKENI (Come Here)

Mekeni is a story, written by Marianne Infante, about family, unconditional love and grief. It was inspired by a conversation that Marianne had with her Ma that involved the confronting question:

What would happen to Papa if Mama passed away before him?

To Marianne, true love exists in the way her parents sing karaoke love-songs to one another every Sunday, how they spontaneously dance together in the living room, and how they rely on each other in the day to day routine and rituals as migrant parents in a country that is foreign to them.

What happens when this person, your person, is gone? A strange land no longer makes sense if the person who helped you move through it is gone. Mekeni traces Noel and Erica Santos, Papa and daughter, as they navigate coming together after the loss of Gerlinda, Mama and wife.

Marianne wrote Mekeni to honour hard-working migrant parents who strive to provide their children with better futures despite all the difficulties they are forced to overcome; language barriers, cultural differences, and apathy from their offspring. Mekeni showcases the strength and vulnerability a father and daughter need in order to overcome migrant barriers and welcome healing.

In collaboration with Someday Stories, we are producing and releasing Mekeni across Stuff, Māori Television On Demand and Radio NZ. This project, featuring Asian-NZ creatives who are slowly and continuously finding ways to feel at home, is a vehicle for some of Aotearoa’s freshest and most groundbreaking filmmakers to hone their skills and be mentored through the filmmaking process.

But we need your help!

Someday Stories, through their partners, has provided us with a seed grant but we cannot pay our cast and crew without your assistance.

We invite you to be part of this world first, and contribute to the careers of Aotearoa’s freshest film talent.

Thank you in advance.

Mekeni is one of the Someday Stories series of sustainability-focused short films by emerging young film-makers from Aotearoa New Zealand. Someday Stories is produced by Connected Media with support from NZ On Air, Te Māngai Pāho, the New Zealand Film Commission and The Vista Foundation in association with Stuff, Māori Television and RNZ.