Massive milestone for Kiwi cinema! Taratoa Stappard’s Victorian-era Māori gothic thriller ‘Mārama’ is selected for the 99th Academy Awards.

Huge news for Kiwi filmmaking on the global stage! The New Zealand Film Commission has officially chosen writer-director Taratoa Stappard’s stunning debut feature, Mārama, as Aotearoa’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming 99th Academy Awards!

Described by Stappard as his “Māori gothic love letter to our land,” Mārama is set in Victorian-era England and follows a young Māori woman who uncovers the harrowing truths of her colonial heritage. After blowing audiences away at major international film festivals—including Toronto, Sitges, and winning top honors at imagineNATIVE—the film is now set to represent New Zealand at Hollywood’s biggest night!

Annie Murray, Chief Executive of the NZ Film Commission, praised the film as “fearless filmmaking: culturally grounded, cinematically ambitious, and unmistakably from Aotearoa.”

Are you amped to see homegrown Māori storytelling making waves in Hollywood? Let us know your thoughts in the comments over on our socials!