"Debut director Taratoa Stoppard has taken a genre that's built on stories of place and people who stand on a ground filled with buried secrets and has used it to tell a story of Indigenous subjugation and colonization as a whole. "Mārama" uses the structure and visual language of Gothic Horror to tell a story of discovery and empowerment, and it's a phenomenal debut, a confident piece of work that takes a familiar genre and makes it feel perfect for the story its telling."
"It's actually the fest where I finally caught up with "Anora" last year, believe it or not, and some of the biggest FF films this year launched at Cannes too, including Oliver Laxe's stunning " Sirat" and the prize-winning " The Plague." TIFF darlings like " Obsession" and " Honey Bunch " were arguably even more well-received here in Austin. So this dispatch is built around three films that have played at a trio of other fests: Toronto, Fantasia, and Edinburgh."
Fantastic Fest imports notable films from other festivals, allowing local audiences to catch previously shown hits. Several prominent films played at Cannes, including Oliver Laxe's Sirat and the prize-winning The Plague. TIFF titles such as Obsession and Honey Bunch received strong receptions in Austin. Three films from Toronto, Fantasia, and Edinburgh formed a focal group. Debut director Taratoa Stoppard adapts Gothic Horror to explore Indigenous subjugation and colonization in Mārama. The film centers on a Māori woman, Mary, who travels 73 days to Whitby, discovers a man's death, and becomes entangled with his brother Nathaniel and granddaughter Anne amid obsessed displays of Māori artifacts. Strong costume, production design, and a striking lead performance drive the film's momentum.
Read at Roger Ebert
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