Remembering Melissa Wikaire

On Saturday 11 May 2013 at Takaparawha Marae, Orākei, Melissa’s final call sheet was published, and she was laid to rest at the Urupā, Ōkahu Bay, Auckland. Over 500 gathered to farewell her. She is survived by partner Neil James and their whānau, Manaia and Waka. For all of us present on the cloudless, sunny day, it was a bittersweet occasion. Melissa was too young, talented and had just begun a new pathway in Rongoā Māori, convinced that this was the answer to her cancer. We mourn her passing and yet are grateful for the time we were lucky enough to spend with her, our colleague, our friend, and our sister, our beloved Mel.

Melissa in her short 42 years had attained her dream professional and personal life goals. She lived with her darling partner Neil on his pāpakainga in Orākei, with sons Manaia and Waka. In her professional life, Melissa was a programme commissioner at Māori Television (MTS). Due to her expertise, her quiet, calm, practical approach, Melissa was universally liked—no mean feat in this fiercely competitive sector.

Raised by mum Marion and stepdad Tuia Brell in a household with four generations under one roof, it was natural that Melissa, upon graduation from Penrose High in 1987 with an interest in media, gravitated towards a Māori film pathway.

Funding for training Māori in film and television, including Don Selwyns’ He Taonga i Tawhiti course that Melissa entered in 1988, was in part due to the 1987 international success of Barry Barclay, Tama Poata and Wi Kuki Kaa with their film Ngāti produced by John O’Shea.

Encouraged by mentor Don Selwyn, Melissa attended the 1988 Te Manu Aute at Hoani Waititi Marae in Auckland. There, she met Karen Sidney and Kara Paewai, who were to become influential partners in later projects.

At just nineteen, in 1989, Melissa was appointed to Te Ara Whakaata, the first and only Māori film and television committee of Te Waka Toi, the former Māori arm of Creative New Zealand. In one year with committee members Gabrielle Huria, Wi Kuki Kaa, Anne Keating, Karen Sidney, Kara Paewai, and Whetu Fala, they published three magazines and ran a Māori screen hui at Turangawaewae in Ngaruawahia.

In 1993, Melissa and Kara Paewai published a world first – The Brown Pages, a directory of Māori film and television crew. Now it’s online and edited by prominent Samoan/Māori journalist/director Iuelia Leilua.

In 1994, Melissa travelled to the Dreamspeakers Festival in Canada with writer Karen Sidney to screen and present the Don Selwyn-produced drama Kahu & Maia, directed by David Blyth, starring Cliff Curtis and Vanessa Rare. Melissa received the title of Iniskimaki – Buffalo Stone Woman by elder Joe Croweshoe of the Blackfoot Peigan people.

In 1996, Melissa co-founded with Kara Paewai, Christina Asher, and others, Ngā Aho Whakaari – Māori in Film and Television. Melissa was the secretary until 1999, when she was appointed to the Screen Innovation Fund of Creative New Zealand, co-financed by the New Zealand Film Commission.

In 1998, Melissa worked as line producer/producer on the innovative Moko Toa children’s series, produced by the inimitable Hineani Melbourne.

In 2001, Melissa co-produced the Aroha Māori language six-part half-hour television drama series. This series screened to critical acclaim at the 2002 New Zealand International Film Festival, Dreamspeakers Canada, Hawaii Film Festival, Message Sticks Festival Australia, and won Best Drama at ImagiNative Film Festival in Toronto, Canada.

In 2006, she joined Māori Television as a producer, training a new generation of Māori broadcasters before becoming a programme commissioner.

Her 500 production credits include crewing on the first Maori television drama series 1989 E Tipu e Rea, the phenomenally successful feature film 1993 Once Were Warriors, the second television Maori drama series 1993 Nga Puna, the USA television series 1995 Xena Warrior Princess, the first Maori language feature film 2002 Te Tangata Whai Rawa a Weneti – Maori Merchant of Venice, 2006 the award-winning Maori Television children’s series Tau kee and as the executive producer for the 2012 Songs from the Inside television series.

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Hoki ki ō mātua tūpuna, kua whetūrangitia koe! Haere e hine, haere atu rā!

Whetu Fala,

Director/Producer, Fala Media