Six years in the making 'Tapu te Ranga Marae' is our latest documentary project premiered at the Doc Edge Festival, screened on Māori TV and featured on the Spinoff.

The history of this project is tied in with the history of the filmmaker’s friendship. Director Vanessa Patea and Producer Ruth Korver met at Tapu te Ranga Marae in 2004, when Ruth filmed a short documentary about Vanessa and her rock art installation painting in Tane Whai Ora, a whare at Tapu te Ranga Marae.

Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Wellington, the world's largest and tallest wooden building in New Zealand made of recycled materials was devastated in a blaze in June 2019

The documentary gives us the rich history of the Marae and introduces us to Kaumatua Bruce Stewart in the last years of his life. Through him and the voices of his family, we learn about ‘living Māori’ in an extraordinary Marae, built by a community of gang members, wayward youth, volunteers and the larger family who shared in Bruce’s vision.