Akitio (2019) - Short Film (Post-production)

Produced by Moon Palace Media and directed by Wolfgang Schmidt (Ngati Maniapoto), Akitio (2019) is a short narrative film in the arthouse genre based around James K Baxter's poem 'At Akitio'.

The film project brings together a talented, dedicated cast and crew, with actor Harry Summerfield playing the lead, James K Baxter.

Akitio captures the beauty of lanscape, diversity of peoples, and of course the eloquent words of the late James K Baxter.

Creative NZ has supported the production side of the project and we are wanting help with post-production which will enable us to edit, grade and add a score to the film (A piano composition created by Liam Furey).

A special thanks to Tim Simpson and Ollie for their support with the production.

We endeavor to premiere the film in a Wellington arthouse cinema and wish to place the film into local and international high quality film festivals, such as:

Berlinale shorts:

https://www.berlinale.de/en/das_festival/sektionen_sonderveranstaltungen/kurzfilmprogramm/index.html

Cannes shorts:

http://www.cannes-shorts.com/

Sundance Shorts:

https://www.sundance.org/festivals/short-film

New Zealand International Film Festival:

https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/tauranga/

"The best part for me was us as total strangers coming together to pay tribute to this late poet who had affected us all individually to varying extents. However, we already knew much about him, and about how he saw New Zealand and wanted to help those in need. We learned so much more from sharing stories about his life, and how his influence has trickled into our own lives. He was my mother’s postman, he talked at Eva’s father’s school, Harry had begun reading poetry and Baxter just as he was cast for the film. I feel that in filming this, we actively engaged in what Baxter taught and found meaning in. This film has culminated in a nexus of threads of Baxter’s life in a way that nobody anticipated."

- From Akitio (2019) DP and Editor Alex Olsen-Smith

More information:

moonpalacemedia.com/home

moonpalacemedia.com/akitio

moonpalacemedia.com/blog

moonpalacemedia.com/akitio2019stills