Maori Boy Genius 2011

Overview

“He’s precious, and gifted, a Matakite – a wiseman… but really he’s just a child.” A coming-of-age film profiling future leader Ngaa Rauuira, railing against his people’s statistics of uneducated youth, 40% of prisoners, and alarming suicide rates. Ngaa’s story reveals a family of eight on a modest income, committing to a US$35,000 Yale bill; a weighty tribal expectation that he will be the voice of his people AND bring success in war dance competitions; laughing and crying with best friends,