A2 Film Studies FM4 Varieties of Film ExperienceUrban Stories: Power, Poverty & Conflict

Case study 1: Once Were Warriors – New Zealand

Contextual exercise

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori, read the article about the Maori people and answer the following questions:

1. Approximately, by what year had the Maoris arrived in New Zealand?

2. What is the Maori name for New Zealand?

3. When did Europeans begin to arrive in New Zealand?

4. What did the Europeans bring with them which disrupted Maori life?

5. Where did the Maoris come from?

6. What led to Britain annexing (or taking over) New Zealand?

7. What was the purpose of the Native Land Acts?

8. What happened to the Maori and European population numbers between 1840 – 1896?

9. Where do the majority of Maori people live and what is the result of this?

10. Has the experience of European settlement and colonisation in New Zealand been a positive or negative experience for the Maori people?

A2 Film Studies FM4 Varieties of Film ExperienceUrban Stories: Power, Poverty & Conflict

Case study 1: Once Were Warriors – New Zealand

Power Poverty Conflict

Which characters / groups hold power?

Who benefits from the exercise of this power?

Who loses from the exercise of this power?

What types of poverty (financial, emotional) do we see?

Which characters / groups are affected by poverty? (ethnicity / gender / class / age)

What types of conflict do we see? (violent / emotional / sexual violence)

Which characters / groups are the aggressors?

Which characters / group are the victims?