Keeti Ngatai-Melbourne

Keeti aims to facilitate ‘E Tipu, E Rea’, a three-day film workshop, to teach rangatahi essential filmmaking skills, from scripting and filming to editing, nurturing their creativity and self-expression.

Keeti’s moemoeā…

Ko Keeti Ngatai-Melbourne ahau. I tupu ake ahau ki raro i te maru o Whetumatarau, ki Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kawakawa Mai Tawhiti, me ngā mātāpono o Ngāti Porou. Tēnei au e mihi ana ki a koutou mō tēnei taonga whakahirahira, ā, mō tēnei whakaaro nui ki te whakanui i te hunga rangatahi mō āpōpō.

E tipu e rea mō ngā rā o tō ao – Nā Tā Apirana Ngata

Tā Apirana Ngata and I share a bond through our love for Ngāti Porou, our shared birth date of July 3rd, and our aspiration to lead our people towards a brighter future. With this spirit, I am excited to introduce a new kaupapa within Ngāti Porou: “E Tipu, E Rea.”

Ngāti Porou’s East Coast is rich with talent and storytelling potential but lacks resources and opportunities for our Rangatahi. “E Tipu, E Rea” aims to change this with a three-day film workshop at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kawakawa Mai Tawhiti. This workshop will teach rangatahi essential filmmaking skills, from scripting and filming to editing, nurturing their creativity and self-expression, I also hope to help develop their films and present their ideas to production houses across Aotearoa, opening new doors for our Rangatahi.

I have grown up immersed in reo, tikanga, and whānau which has strengthened my commitment to our people. My career has included directing Reo Māori short films, reporting on protests, creating short docos about our whānau and holding film workshops for our Rangatahi.

Inspired by the Nāti Awards, (which have been absent since 2014) I am determined to eventually revive this kaupapa and open new opportunities for our rangatahi. This workshop will pave the way for the revival of the Nāti Awards, ensuring our tamariki thrive in an evolving world. – E Tipu, E Rea.

What were the major outcomes of this kaupapa? 

Over the Matariki period, I had the chance to run a filmmaking workshop with the help of my sister Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne and content creators Siobhan Houkamau and Te Hemara Rauhihi. We worked with the tauira from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kawakawa Mai Tawhiti and Te Pā Wānanga o Tauritoatoa, two kura based in some of the most rural parts of the East Coast.

Because the workshop was held at a kura kaupapa, everything was delivered in te reo Māori. We taught the kids how to write a storyline, shoot a sequence, work with camera angles, edit, and use professional gear. They picked things up so quickly and brought their own creativity to every part of the process.

What were some of the challenges your kaupapa faced during its implementation?

We didn’t run into many big challenges at all. The wānanga flowed really well, and the tauira were keen and picked things up quickly. Having a good team and being organised made a huge difference.

I think the only challenge might have been working in rural areas, it just means planning carefully around travel, cost, weather (Can be a big obstacle for rural communities), gear, schedules, however, having grown up in said rural community it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle and it’s a challenge that I am determined to over come every single time to show our tamariki that they matter, no matter the obstacle.

How did this kaupapa benefit from the Pou Herenga Tangata Award? 

The project greatly benefited from the, Pou Herenga Tangata Award which helped cover travel and koha for our tuakana. It also allowed us to provide kai for the tamariki throughout the wānanga, rent the professional gear needed for the workshop, and offer a koha to the kura. This support was essential in making the wānanga accessible, comfortable, and meaningful for everyone involved, ensuring our tamariki and whānau felt valued and cared for throughout the kaupapa.

What are your future plans for this kaupapa?

We definitely plan to keep this kaupapa going. This is just the beginning, our dream is to take these filmmaking wānanga to more kura along the East Coast and beyond, making sure more tamariki and rangatahi get the chance to see themselves in creative spaces. We want to keep growing that tuakana teina connection, with rangatahi stepping up to guide and support their teina. It’s about building a strong, connected whānau of young Māori storytellers who know their reo, their culture, and their whakapapa matter. Ultimately, we hope this kaupapa helps open doors for our rangatahi to lead, create, and share their own stories, inspiring future generations to do the same.