FESTIVAL ’90 : Screenings Present Pacific Rim Cultures

Sunday

Mana Waka

New Zealand Sunday, 8 p.m., Warner Grand, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro; Tuesday, 8 p.m., Melnitz Theater, UCLA

In this fascinating documentary, two filmmakers and a Maori princess collaborate across half a century on a poetic celebration of Zealand tribal culture. The subject is the waka taua building project: the 1938 construction, by Princess Te Puea Herangi’s tribe, of a sacred boat. The footage of this painstaking job, the felling of huge trees, the laborious shoreward trek, intricate ceremonial carvings and final glorious launch--was shot by Jim Manley in 1938; ever since, it has rested in the New Zealand Film Archive. Director Merata Mita has expertly edited Manley’s work, sweetening it with an evocative soundtrack. The result has a bit of the monochrome lyricism of “Tabu” or “White Shadows in the South Seas,” and a unique historical perspective. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience.