Tamati Kawha

Meet Tamati, a Master’s student who is honing his video production skills at Victoria University of Wellington.

During his studies at Victoria University of Wellington, Tamati Kawha enjoyed pushing the boundaries and found his lecturer’s encouragement helped him develop his skills and find his passion.

“The University offered me a lot of projects where the boundaries could be pushed, and more importantly, offered a strong group of coordinators who would always support the direction I wanted to take my project.”

Tamati’s craft is video production, from the original concept, to filming and lighting, right through to animation, sound and post-production editing.

Of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui iwi and originally from Te Kaha, a rural area on the East Cape, Tamati was keen to study in Wellington due to its rich artistic community and the connections with industry at the University.

“The Te Aro campus is the perfect location—Cuba Street is always buzzing with performers, it’s not far from Miramar which is overflowing with big productions, and there is always good theatre on.”

Tamati directed a music video funded by NZ On Air this year, and has a project lined up with Māori Television. He is currently a tutor in MDDN 211 Digital Video Production and MDDN 314 Audio-Visual Space and will finish his Master’s next year.