Hard work pays off for brothers

WARWICK SMITH/Manawatu Standard

BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE: Palmerston North film-maker and teacher Meihana Durie has made an award-winning film with his brother, Pere, about the 1888 New Zealand Natives rugby team.

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Just try to tell Meihana Durie that blood, sweat and tears are restricted to rugby.

The Palmerston North film-maker knows a bit about perseverance – it took five years just to get his movie off the bench.

But after four years of being turned down for New Zealand Film Commission funding, and a truckload of effort and persistence, the short film he made with his brother Pere Durie is having an impact worldwide.

Warbrick, a 12-minute drama based on the legacy of rugby player Joe Warbrick, last month won second prize at the Montreal First People's Film Festival in Canada.

It is based on the true story of Joe Warbrick, the captain of the 1888 New Zealand Natives rugby team that toured Britain and Australia.

Set in London in 1889, it captures the moment where Warbrick must inspire the physically exhausted rugby team to play, or forfeit a test match against England.

Originally from Feilding, Meihana said he and his brother always had an interest in film, and loved their muddy Saturday morning rugby.

They played for Feilding Old Boys, before pursuing careers as teachers.

But every time they met they talked about films, and over the years it became apparent that's what they really wanted to do, Meihana said.

"In order to work towards the goal of one day making our own features we knew we would have to come up with a compelling short film script, and Warbrick was the first cab off the rank."

Pere, a "Tarantino-type" character, had worked on Maori Television before his current job teaching film at Tauranga Boys' High School.

But Meihana, who is completing his PhD in Maori Studies at Massey University and teaching at Te Wananga O Raukawa in Otaki, had to learn quickly.

He took a job on Taika Waititi's short film Tama Tu to get up to speed, and the brothers submitted their idea to the film commission for funding four times before it was finally accepted, Meihana said. "It's just so competitive."

While Warbrick is steeped in the past, they wanted it to be a drama rather than a history lesson.

"The biggest difficulty for us was how we are going to make a two-year tour into 12 minutes. The idea was to give [the audience] a sense of what the team went through on the tour, without making it a documentary."

Challenges arose when five of the 19 actors were called up to be extras on failed feature film Kingdom Come and had to be replaced the night before shooting. Sets and costumes had to be authentic, and it all had to be shot in a week.

But the finished film was released early last year, and it seems to have found its audience.

After winning first place at the 2009 Wairoa Maori Film Festival, it was screened at the 2009 New Zealand International Film Festival and sent to Canada.

They plan to enter it in a French festival next, and will begin work on their second short film soon.

To view, click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dT55_FMWJo 

- © Fairfax NZ News