Tanea Heke

The criminal mistreatment of indigenous populations is not limited to North America. Cousins is a superb New Zealand drama about three Maori women and their paths in life, from childhood to late middle age. Mata, Missy and Makareta are girl cousins, close in age. One of them gets completely cut off from Maori culture, one is immersed in it and one moves between Maori and white settler cultures. No coincidence that this deeply affecting film is of, for and by women, of course.

If there was ever a film for fans who celebrate indigenous voices across the world, the new intergenerational narrative Cousins, out of New Zealand, is it. Cousins celebrates talented women of color, Māori traditions and worldview, and the value of not only family, but sisterhood and relationships uniquely found between women.