A yellow baroque style wallpaper. Two white line drawings of pōhutukawa are in the right and left corners, opposite each other.

White hand drawn text reads, "Kāinga".

1h 27m

Home is where the heart, hurt, hatred, hearth, hope is.

Kāinga navigates the thorny terrain of home in Aotearoa New Zealand from the perspectives of 8 Pan-Asian women.

Made with the support of NZ On Air

Kāinga

Kāinga navigates the thorny terrain of home in Aotearoa New Zealand from the perspectives of 8 Pan-Asian women.
Film
1h 27m

Trailers & bonus video

Aho

In 1972, AHO, a precocious Māori-Chinese teenager, is faced with the task of joining two parts of her severed family by brokering a reconciliation between her Māori Nan and Aunty Ying from China after the death of her beloved grandfather, Goong.
12m

Parisa

In 2016, Iranian PARISA, her husband Daruish, and their daughter house-sit this whare. The prospect of a dinner with other Iranians ignites an argument about their future home. Parisa and Daruish evaluate the profit and loss of immigration.
10m

Vena

In 2019, VENA, a NZ Tamil Eelam young woman, marches to this house to dig up a time capsule she and her sister buried in the backyard 20 years ago. What gets dug up is much more than what she expected.
12m

Parvati

In 2010, recent Indian immigrant PARVATI attends a Ganpati Puja in the same house, now fully renovated and upscaled. Parvati basks in the Indian community's embrace but still aches for her elderly father in Bombay. The past is another country.
10m

Mikasa

In 1980, MIKASA, an isolated Japanese woman, is haunted by a hollow ship beckoning her to give up the struggles of everyday living. When escape is close by , what keeps her tethered to this home? She has to find the answer.
10m

Soo Young

In 2000, amid gentrification of the neighbourhood, the house is up for sale. 6-year-old SOO YOUNG doesn't appreciate the sudden visit from potential Kiwi-Chinese buyers. Unfettered by decorum, Soo Young disrupts the viewing.
10m

Candy

In 1990, a hardworking middle-aged Filipina nurse, CANDY, is mother to a bunch of young Filipina nurses with whom she rents this house in Auckland. For her own children in Manila, the tyranny of distance shrouds Candy's many sacrifices.
11m

Eva

The present day owner, EVA, an NZ-born Chinese woman, confronts her "FOB" Chinese neighbour when the noise he makes keeps Eva's baby awake. As sleep deprivation strips away her civility, Eva comes face to face with her own internalized racism.
11m

Made with the support of

Partner Logo for NZ on Air for use on dark background

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