23 August 2019 - 0 Comments
Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest
is a 30-minute documentary about Hinewai Nature Reserve, on New Zealand’s Banks
Peninsula, its kaitiaki/manager of 30 years, botanist Hugh Wilson, and how
degraded gorse-infested farmland has been regenerated back into beautiful
native forest.
When, in 1987, Hugh let the local community know of his plans to allow the
introduced ‘weed’ gorse to grow as a nurse canopy to regenerate farmland into
native forest, people were skeptical and even outraged. Now considered a hero
locally and across the country, Hugh oversees 1500 hectares resplendent in
native forest, where wildlife is abundant and 47 known waterfalls are in
permanent flow.
This important film, produced by environmentally conscious documentary makers Happen Films,
had its world premiere in June and is currently screening across the country.
The corresponding soundtrack was created by award-winning composers Ariana Tikao
and Karl Steven,
incorporating electronic soundscapes with Taonga Puoro to create a spacious,
contemplative and transcendent musical rendering.
"It's a very special story to be involved with telling, and one which
really came to life musically when Ariana came on board with her musical
perspective and skill," explains Karl. "I feel like we've done
our best to give a musical voice to the Hinewai place/project, and I'm really
happy with the results. When I spend twenty minutes listening to these
pieces for me it's like stepping into that landscape, but without the
plane/ferry trip!"
“I love Hinewai!" says Ariana. "I’m in awe of the work that Hugh and the volunteers have done over the last 30 years to reclothe this part of Papatūānuku. My whānau are from the Akaroa area so it felt like a real privilege to work on the soundtrack for this film”.
The soundtrack is released through the Songbroker label and is now available from Spotify, Bandcamp, and all good digital platforms under the title Hinewai.
There are currently no comments for this article. Please log in to add new comments.