Reciprocity Project Season Two Brings Indigenous Perspectives to the Big Screen

All seven short films in the second season will be screened on the opening night of the festival, taking place in the Kāpiti Coast community of Ōtaki in Aotearoa, New Zealand, between March 20-24. 

Each original film was made in partnership with global Indigenous storytellers and their communities within their home territories across Kenya, Finland, Sierra Leone, Fiji, Taiwan, and the United States. 

In Season Two of this multimedia project, storytellers and community partners created films responding to the question: What does a 'return' to land, language, community, and reciprocal relationships mean to you and your community? 

The films are rooted in Indigenous agency, sovereignty, and self-determination, and encompass themes including intergenerational knowledge-sharing, language revitalization, climate justice, intersectionality, and gender. 

"Indigenous creators have a great responsibility to not only represent themselves but also to share authentic representations of their Peoples and their communities. Alongside this important, culture-bearing work, Reciprocity Project makes room for Indigenous joy, lightness, and laughter, in addition to everything else Indigenous Peoples carry in the world," said Sunná Nousuniemi (Sámi), director of Season Two film ÁHKUIN. 

"Reciprocity Project is a beautiful example of culture's power to remind us all that we are part of nature and that the survival of the Earth cannot be separated from the health of society," expressed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who is also a co-executive producer on Reciprocity Project. 

"The global cohort of filmmakers of Season Two have created stories that are at once nuanced, complicated, traditional, and contemporary. They may mirror similar themes and concepts, but each one is special, unique, and unapologetically Indigenous," said executive producer Tracy Rector. 

About Reciprocity Project Season Two
Reciprocity Project invites global Indigenous filmmakers to center Indigenous perspectives about the reciprocal relationship between all beings and the lands we inhabit. 

Producers: Taylor Hensel, Kavita Pillay, Adam Mazo, Tracy Rector.

Executive Producer: Tracy Rector.

Executive Producers for REI Co-op Studios: Hanna Boyd, Joe Crosby, Paolo Mottola.

Co-Executive Producers: Hindou Ibrahim, Yo-Yo Ma, Cristina Mittermeier, Kiliii Yuyan.

Producing Partners:  Nia Tero and Upstander Project in association with REI Co-op Studios. 

About Māoriland Film Festival
Māoriland Film Festival is Aotearoa's international Indigenous Film Festival, founded in 2014 to celebrate Indigenous voices and storytelling in film and to uplift the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples. Purchase tickets. 

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