ON THE RUN

Director Karin Viesel, Michael McLernon / 1985 / West Germany

Set on the remote east coast of New Zealand, this visually stunning film charts 36 hours in the life of a group of Maori shearers. They are seasonal workers whose average quota is 300 sheep per worker. They are "on the run". This community is also the meeting place of two worlds: that of the Maori (original inhabitants) and the Pakeha (white strangers). Directors Viesel and McLernon show how these two cultures co-exist by paralleling, for example, sequences of open air bowling and a Maori singing in a kitchen. Presented with a dynamic visual style, the film portrays the changes between old and new and between Maori and Pakeha in New Zealand today.

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