Kauraka E Mataku, Kia Takatū

Kauraka E Mataku, Kia Takatū - Don't Be Scared, Be Prepared - follows Hine and her Pōua along the Alpine Fault, tracing its stretch across Te Waipounamu. Pōua shares creation stories passed down through generations while Hine's curious questioning opens the door to tectonic plates, geological history, and the science behind earthquakes - making complex concepts accessible through storytelling and cinematic craft.

The film weaves Ngāi Tahu creation narratives - how Rūaumoko, Tū Te Rakiwhanoa, Marokura, and Kahukura shaped Te Waipounamu - together with the geological reality of the fault that lifted the peaks of Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. The kaupapa is preparedness: bringing two ways of knowing into genuine conversation to connect communities to their landscape ahead of a future event.

AF8/GNS science indicates a 75% probability of an Alpine Fault earthquake in the next 50 years, with a 4-in-5 chance it will be magnitude 8 or greater, with the fault rupturing on average every ~300 years, most recently in 1717 (AF8, n.d.).

• Core Deliverables: A 2:55 bilingual short film - narrative development, casting, cinematography (Sony FX6), green-screen and on-location production, edit and delivery
• Audience: South Island whānau and communities, schools, and emergency-preparedness audiences across Te Waipounamu
• Timeframe: Completed March 2024 · 16-week production
• Co-production & Cultural Oversight: Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and the AF8 Programme (co-sponsor Toka Tū Ake EQC); Pou Tikanga Maurice Manawatu; mana whenua guidance from Joseph Hullen (Ngāti Waewae); the Manawatu whānau as cast
• Key Requirements: Cultural accuracy and safety, scientific integrity, accessibility for diverse public audiences
• Service Connection: Film and Cinematography, Cultural storytelling, Motion Design, Strategic Communication

Māui Studios delivered a completed, cinematic short that lets the two knowledge systems carry each other - Pōua's creation narratives and Hine's questioning opening the science - so that geology is felt through whakapapa and place rather than explained in the abstract. The fault becomes a character in its own right: the force that raised the landscape and the hazard communities must now prepare for.

The film's significance was independently recognised with the EMPA New Zealand Award for Excellence in Emergency Communication 2024 (Readiness and Resilience), awarded to Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and the AF8 Programme (Emergency Media and Public Affairs, 2024) - marking the work as a benchmark for culturally grounded emergency communication.

Intended Outcomes

• Connect South Island communities to their landscape through a shared cultural and scientific story
• Raise awareness of Alpine Fault hazard and the value of preparedness
• Help whānau prepare by strengthening knowledge and relationships beforehand
• Bring mātauranga Māori and earth science into genuine conversation

Broader Impact

• Addresses a nationally significant hazard (AF8, n.d.)
• Models how iwi-led storytelling and civil-defence science can be co-produced into a single resonant resource
• Positions Māui Studios as a credible partner for emergency-communication, iwi, and government cultural film

• Companion education resources for schools aligned to the film
• Regional and iwi-specific adaptations across Te Waipounamu
• An extended series on natural-hazard preparedness and mātauranga
• Use within Civil Defence Emergency Management community-engagement programmes
• Further te reo Māori-forward versions for kura and Māori-medium settings

• AF8 (Alpine Fault Magnitude 8). (n.d.). What is AF8? https://af8.org.nz/what-is-af8
• Emergency Media and Public Affairs. (2024). EMPA New Zealand Award for Excellence in Emergency Communication 2024 - Readiness and Resilience. https://www.emp.org.au