- Richard Nunns has been a primary figure in retrieving taonga puoro, the traditional instruments of the Maori, from the silence of the museum. Archivist, researcher, composer and performer, he has worked - first with the late Hirini Melbourne, and here with Horomona Horo - to reinstate lost performance traditions. For Nunns, the sounds of the instruments 'sit somewhere between the sounds of the natural world and the human voice': the performer enters and joins the soundscape of nature. As the two men engage in musical conversation with a number of remarkable South Island locations, director Paul Wolffram and editor Annie Collins orchestrate the artistry of cinematographer Alun Bollinger and sound designer Tim Prebble to render the experience sublimely cinematic. We also meet master carver Brian Flintoff who works on intricate new flutes. Performances are interwoven with tributes - many of them musical - to the value of Nunns' discoveries and dedication. As Nunns contemplates his own failing body, the film's attunement to natural forces - ebbing away and then resurgent - summons the spirits that have found renewal through him.—Gosden, Bill
- Richard Nunns reflects on the ways in which he came to see the land as having its own voices. With Horomona Horo, Richard takes the recently recovered knowledge of performing taonga puoro, the traditional instruments of the Maori, into the wilderness landscapes of Aotearoa/New Zealand to play to the land and confirm we are listening. A cinematic and acoustic journey into a world of sound rarely encountered.—Wolffram, PAul
- A cinematic and acoustic journey into a world of sound rarely encountered. Richard Nunns, a musician and cultural explorer, takes the recently recovered knowledge of traditional Maori instruments into the wilderness landscapes of Aotearoa/New Zealand to show us how to see and listen to the Voices of the Land. Described as 'sublimely cinematic' the film takes the audience on an incredible journey into the relationship between a people, their land and the imagination of the viewer.
- Voices of the Land explores the traditional instruments and musical structures of the Maori people of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Guided by ethnographer and musician Richard Nunns, the film reveals the intimate relationship between traditional Maori music and the landscape.
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What is the English language plot outline for Voices of the Land: Nga Reo O Te Whenua (2014)?
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