MĀORI TELEVISION’S INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY SLOT

5 February – 11 March 2008

Māori Television’s International Documentary slot, Pakipūmeka ō te Ao, screens every Tuesday at 8.30 PM. Upcoming documentaries include:

THE LADY IS A CHAMP – Tuesday February 5 at 8.30 PM: As coach of the women’s basketball team in Ramat Hasharon, Israel, Orna Ostfeld competes for the National Championship. Outside of the basketball arena, she fights constantly for equal government support of women’s sports. This is a documentary about gender, human rights and the pursuit for equality. It’s about the struggle of a woman who refuses to give up at all costs. (Hebrew – subtitled in English where required)

NO MAN’S LAND – Tuesday February 12 at 8.30 PM: Hijras or transgender people as they are sometimes known, occupy an unusual position within South Asian society. They are considered social outcasts, existing in a strange, no man's land. Hijras are however reluctantly accepted – even though they are often an object of laughter, scorn or even fear. This documentary explores how hijras live in India; we meet with four hijra and hear their stories; and we also meet the medical professionals who deal with their differing medical needs. (Indian – subtitled in English)

ROME – THE LOST CITY OF CHINA – Tuesday February 19 at 8.30 PM: The lost city of Li-jien in China is a settlement that experts believe was once occupied by Roman legionnaires over 2,000 years ago. This documentary investigates the mystery behind its present day residents and their link to the West. Though the villagers believe they are of Roman heritage, the claim is a controversial one. Through a mix of scientific and historical analysis, modern experts try and piece together if the Romans could have lived in China, over one thousand years before the coming of Marco Polo.

SAYONARA CHANGI – Tuesday February 26 at 8.30 PM: In 2004, a brutal chapter of World War Two’s history was brought to a close. Singapore’s infamous Changi Prison, where some of the worst atrocities of the war were committed by the Japanese military, was torn down in August of that year. This documentary takes six ex-prisoners of war from the UK and Australia to Changi to see the prison for the last time and relive this painful chapter of the war in Southeast Asia.

BEFORE THE FLOOD – Tuesday March 4 at 8.30 PM: Tuvalu – the tiny island nation with a fascinating story. Once the world’s third poorest country, at the height of the dot com boom in 1999, it sold its internet domain name - .tv – for $50 million. But all the cash in the world won’t stop the relentless march of the sea – Tuvalu is only three metres above sea level and suggestions are the nation will be eventually engulfed. This documentary looks at the impact of the impending disaster and how the residents feel about a homeland that is slowly disappearing. (Tuvaluan – subtitled in English)

VANUA-TAI – OF LAND AND SEA – Tuesday March 11 at 8.30 PM: Sea turtles are one of those animals that hold a fascination for many of us but are understood by very few. In 1995, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) began the Year of the Turtle Campaign. The result of this was the creation of a network of village volunteers, named turtle monitors, that continues today. The initial group of monitors, instigated bans on the killing of turtles and the taking of eggs. This documentary tracks SPREP’s turtle preservation programme through the eyes of those who worked as turtle monitors. (Bislama – subtitled in English)

Māori Television’s International Documentary slot, Pakipūmeka ō te Ao, screens every Tuesday at 8.30 PM.

Ends

Sandy Hodge
Kaiwhakaputa (Publicist)
Māori Television
DDI +64 9 539 7009
MOB: +64 21 325 826
EML: sandy.hodge@maoritelevision.com