The Retrieval

A young man must weigh up the cost of his own freedom versus that of a whānau taonga that has been stolen. It’s not stealing if it originally belonged to you, right?

The Retrieval is a story about the importance of culture and family and the lengths one would go to for either. 

The Retrieval is a short film based loosely off an incident that happened to me (Matilda - Talofa!) when I was seven that made me question life (wow, dramatic).

I was out shopping with my Mum when I saw an old man who looked like Santa, sitting outside Price Cutters asking for food and money. I'll save the full story for my autobiography - but I felt really bad for him because he looked like Santa. I decided to steal him some food - a chocolate bar to be precise but was caught by the checkout lady to my mum’s horror and my embarrassment. Let's just say class was definitely in session when we got home.

That incident always had me wondering though - is it ever ok to steal? Because in my mind, it was ok because I was trying to help Santa. This story was kind of inspired by that incident. The idea that maybe everything isn't always black and white.

On the surface, The Retrieval is a heist movie. At its heart, it’s a story about the difficult choices we have to make as Indigenous peoples - to follow the rules of the coloniser or do what’s right for our whānau and culture. 

As filmmakers, we are motivated by the desire to see Māori/Pasifika stories and people on the big screen. To tell stories for and by our people and from the perspective of those who actually live those stories. Our story is important because representation matters. When one Māori/Pasifika person uplifts the other, we all win. 

WE NEED YOUR HELP

The Retrieval is a passion project - a labour of love for culture, people and storytelling. With partial funding from Māoriland and the NZ Film Commission, we’ve managed to pull together a cinematographer, our cast, props and equipment. We were able to film some of the film in December - now we need help weaving our story together in post-production. The money we receive will help cover some of the costs for filming and allow for The Retrieval to be edited before hitting the big screen at festivals in Aotearoa and abroad. 

For many young people of Aotearoa, especially our Indigenous rangatahi, we were raised to give back to our family and friends, our people. This film is about the importance of family and culture and we want Māori/Pasifika audiences to walk away from seeing this film with a sense of pride in our culture and our people. 

We want everyone else to walk away maybe with a new mind-set about why people do the things they do. What makes each of us unique individuals is what goes on below the surface in our hearts and in our heads. We hope people take away something important from the story. 

Please support us if you can. Every little bit counts and gets us one step closer to the big screen.

OUR TEAM

The Retrieval is written by Matilda Poasa and is director Aree Kapa's debut film. Our team includes Ryan Alexander Lloyd (Cinematographer), Asuka Sylvie (Camera Assistant), Richard Te Are (Kaea), Nukutawhiti and Taikaha Matthews (Young Kaea, Manawa), Margaret Matthews and Dave Kaire (Nan and Koro) and Ngā Pakiaka! (Tiana Trego-Hall, Oriwa Hakaraia, Kararaina Ngatai Melbourne, Tioreore Ngatai Melbourne, Bai Buliruarua).

The Retrieval is part of the Ngā Pakiaka Incubator Project (NPIP). NPIP was developed by Māoriland during Lockdown to support rangatahi filmmakers to produce their first professional short films. The first eight in NPIP are Aree Kapa, Oriwa Hakaraia, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Kararaina Ngatai-Melbourne, Te Waiarangi Ratana, Bailey Poching, Tiana Trego Hall and Te Mahara Tamehana. All eight filmmakers have personal creative goals to become feature filmmakers and share Indigenous stories on the big screen. Under NPIP, this talented rangatahi have received one-on-one mentorship from industry experts from across the Indigenous filmmaking sector, craft development opportunities, workshops, and industry placements.

Aree and Matilda