Standing Places
Directed by Ana Tovey
Synopsis
A model of Stonehenge has been built in rural New Zealand, functioning like the original not only in its astronomical alignment but also in its role as a ceremonial site. The film explores what Stonehenge Aotearoa means to the people involved with it – those who built it, the neighbours, local tangata whenua (people of the land) and those who use it as a sacred space for rituals. Is this a construction of an inauthentic ancestral connection to the land for Pakeha (white) New Zealanders or does it open up a new space for working through the complex identities of a multi-cultural post-settler society?