Independent Film Mārama (2026) Director Q&A

A young Māori woman fights to keep her identity in mid-19th century England.

Tickets - https://ticketing.oz.veezi.com/purchase/1207?siteToken=fpnccxy3ma159g7z8a3e95asy8

See it first at The Hollywood for a special Q&A with director Taratoa Stappard.

Far from home and haunted by visions, a Māori woman uncovers gruesome secrets inside an English manor. A bold, unsettling gothic tale of identity, memory, and colonial reckoning.

With striking visual precision and a searing critique of colonial and cultural fetishisation, Stappard conjures a taut gothic atmosphere thick with foreboding. In doing so, he lays claim to a bold new cinematic territory: Māori Gothic, where the thin veneer of Victorian civility is torn away to reveal something truly monstrous beneath. Not ghosts or ghouls, but the legacy of empire itself.

COME EARLY! Doors 6:30pm, pre-show 7pm, Q&A directly after the feature.

There are very few theatres like the Hollywood anywhere in the world at present. A functioning 35mm operation dedicated to movie lovers. It's run by film obsessives who aren't beholden to committees or corporations.

A free spirit in the cinematic world. It's forebears are classic theatres we read about as fans.. The Scala, The Roxie, The Nuart - cinemas where film lovers gathered & communities formed. Built in 1915, the neo-classical building has had a fascinating
history and is the earliest example of a cinema in Auckland. Beginning life as the "Avondale Town Hall", it has screened movies since day one.

From silent movies to today's digital projection - it has screened every type of film known to mankind. From 1930 - 1946 it was known as Hayward's Town Hall Pictures and the cinema was run by the Hayward family who were part of the famous Fuller-Haywards theatre circuit. When Fuller-Haywards was sold to the newly formed Kerridge- Odeon Theatres Ltd in 1946, a second generation of Hayward's decided to form a new company called Auckland Cinemas Ltd and take over the running of some of the suburban Auckland
venues.

In 1966 a young man with a big dream took over the running of the cinema. His name was Jan Grefstad and he was to make the Hollywood his life for the next thirty six years. It ran Rocky Horror for 21yrs non-stop - longest run in the world. When Jan died there was concern it was going to be pulled down and turned into something ugly. Luckily an insane movie fan called Matt Timpson stepped up and bought the building and soon began to breathe life back into the Hollywood. It has grown in stature each year - culminating awhile back wherein Tarantino on his visit to NZ
called it the "Best Cinema in New Zealand".