Brolesque

Libby Hakaraia Ngāti Raukawa au ki te tonga, Ngāti Kapu
Libby Hakaraia (Ngāti Raukawa au ki te tonga, Ngāti Kapu) is a highly experienced storyteller with over 30 years of directing and producing for television and film. Her first short film, “The Lawnmower Men of Kapu” screened at over 30 festivals around the world and led to the establishment of the Māoriland Film Festival.
Libby has spent the past decade building the Māoriland Film Festival into the biggest Indigenous festival in the world, while also working to grow the capacity of our Māori and international Indigenous screen sector through Māoriland’s year-round rangatahi and creative initiatives. These programmes have resulted in over 250 short films, documentaries, animated shorts, television series and music videos. Many of these works have screened at festivals internationally including Seattle International Film Festival, imagineNATIVE Film Festival, Winda Film Festival, Skabmagovat Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, NATIVE Cinema Showcase, Blackstar Film Festival, Vancouver International Womens Festival, Birrarangga Film Festival This experience has strengthened her understanding of audience and the power of culturally authentic storytelling.
In March 2023 Libby steps down from the MFF festival director role to work full time on production. She is writing a feature film as well as several short films in development. All of these Libby intends to direct.