Te Mana o te Moana The Pacific Voyagers

A Two Year Voyage

We were shooting a series on Pacific food across the region and it seemed that everywhere we went we encountered the waka. Tua Pittman a celestial navigator and tribal leader we met along the way said to me “The waka are the heart of the Pacific.” This captured my curiosity. The more I encountered the voyagers the more I heard their vital message – stewardship of the ocean. When Dieter Paulman approached Heather and I to take on the film we were both honoured to be able to contribute to crafting the story of this monumental two year voyage to capture the extraordinary training of the next generation and make a piece that spoke to that heart of the Pacific. As I met these extraordinary humans they showed me that the waka function to connect us. As they travel they weave together cultures and people. For them the ocean does not seperate us it holds us together.