ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
In modern day Rapa-Nui/Easter Island, young Marahoro finds in an ancient holler the strength to confront his father’s harshness and to pursue his calling from the voices of the sea.

SYNOPSIS
MARAHORO is the amusing and heartwarming coming of age story of 12-year-old Marahoro’s typical summer routine in his island home, Rapa Nui. Having a rough time balancing his father’s wishes for him to become a rapa nui folk artist and his own calling from the voices of the sea, the spirited young boy finds the strength in an ancient rapa nui holler to challenge his father’s harshness, showing him that his son can find his own place in the world and honor his culture in his own way, surfing the perfect ocean waves of Rapa Nui.

This will be the first professional short film of writer/director Sofia Rodriguez and it will be shot in Rapa-Nui/Easter Island this year. It will have a 100% rapa-nui-ethnic cast confirmed and a multicultural crew made up of Chileans, Rapa-Nui and one Maori-New Zealander (cinematographer Fred Renata).The main characters, Marahoro and his father Tu’umaheke represent the generation gap that exists today in Rapa-Nui. Marahoros father stands for the old generations that are too hard on their children in order to secure the passing on the culture. And Marahoro represents the new generations of children that are receiving this heavy responsibility towards the culture as a burden. They are the last hope of preserving the language and ancient knowledge from their ancestors, which becomes quite a pressure for the younger ones. This film is intended to be a contribution to the conservation of the Rapa-Nui culture and a way to bring these topics up for discussion in the Rapa-Nui and Pacific Islands communities. We want this film to help new and old generations understand each others different points of view and help create an environment where they can dialogue and work out the best solutions for the future of their communities.

PROJECT TYPE Narrative Short

DIRECTOR Sofia Rodriguez
PRODUCER Sofia Rodriguez, Camila Flores
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Sofia Rodriguez, Camila Flores
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Waitiare Kaltenegger
assistant director Cristóbal Venegas
EDITOR Gerard Elmore
composer Tihema Bennett

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