Hiona Henare
Story by Himiona Grace
Hiona Henare (Filmmaker) - Ngāti Raukawa, Muaūpoko, Ngai Tahu, Ngāpuhi
Hiona is a true local of the Horowhenua. Her mother is Muaūpoko, the original iwi of the area and her father, a Ngati Raukawa minister was born and bred in Otaki. And her memories of her childhood are fond ones.
“We locals call home the Nua, or LV, or VN. But its official name is Levin. 70% of us were cousins, so there was never a dull moment. There were 6 local primary schools and one Intermediate. It was cool except for the 6 km walk everyday. [But] I remember all the teachers jamming on guitars while we sang Fleetwood Mac and Beatle songs at school assembly.”
She spent a few years at Waiopehu College but after a family trip away something changed. “I dunno, one day something just snapped in me. We went on this awesome family holiday to Hawaii and when we got back to the Nua I thought, ‘Jesus this town sucks’, so I asked my parents if I could move to Christchurch to live with my eldest sister”.
From there Hiona attended Aranui High and Avonside Girls for the last two years of her schooling.
University wasn’t a priority for Hiona but that wasn’t through a lack of academic ability. Quite the contrary, she was invited to the SOLID Screen Festival in Cairns where she picked up an award for “Contribution to Screen Arts”. The delegation was made up of 25 indigenous screen artists, all wahine from around the globe. “I presented this new model I created for wahine artists called Spirit Journey of Native Filmmakers. I got a really great response and was encouraged to pursue a PHD because of the academic level I was thinking and working at. It was a good feeling being advised by a room filled with indigenous academics to become, well, an indigenous academic”.
Hiona attended South Seas Film and Television School where she graduated with a double major and a film award. Specialising in all aspects of film and television South Seas would be great place to study but when Hiona puts her ‘independent film makers’ hat on a bit of cynicism creeps in.
“It was a good school for learning technical things like script writing, editing, camera and lights. But you can just as easily learn this stuff [on the job] and save your money to self fund your film”.
This is a common attitude amongst independent film makers. Not that you shouldn’t attend university or learn the many skills needed in film schools and polytechnics. But that fierce ‘just do it’ attitude seems to be a universal one. It is an industry where you need drive, passion and to be multi-skilled to survive.
Hiona interviews Mitchell Manuel from the Kingi Story, King Pin & Mark II trilogy
Morrow Productions, Levin 2015
“I’ve done so many jobs, all the roles I mentioned before, as well as script management in final-draft, production assisting, director assisting, running, unit, set dressing, make up, costume, cooking, data wrangling, chaperoning, acting and voice work. But the best skill to learn is how to wear three hats (producer, writer, director) at one time — that one takes a lot of practice, years and years to perfect”.
Film making is a tough industry to crack. Independent film making is even harder as this usually means you don’t have big company or organisations backing your project. So what is the secret ingredient needed to make independent films. Hiona has the answer and gives it with a smile.
“A filmmaker needs a solid sense of humour because sometimes this industry can be a real joke”.
