Join If An Owl Calls Your Name Film Premiere
A 5-Day Online Gathering with Indigenous Elders, Healers, & Activists
December 9 – 13, 2025
Register to view the FULL film and gain access to the 5-Day Live Online Event with Indigenous Elders, Healers, & Activists. You’ll be invited to make a donation of any amount (even $0), with the option to upgrade to the 12-film journey and talk series.
PREMIERE DATE
DECEMBER 09, 2025
The Vision
Our vision for the 12-film documentary series is to honor Indigenous resilience, illuminate sacred wisdom held for humanity and Earth, and invite healing across communities facing trauma and colonial erasure.
About the film
Mauri is a cinematic invitation into the healing traditions of Aotearoa, a journey carried by Māori healers, elders, and knowledge keepers who tend to intergenerational wounds through land, language, and ceremony.
Filmed in close relationship with those who carry ancestral wisdom, Mauri reveals how healing is not an individual pursuit but a collective remembering – guided by spirit, whenua (land), and the relational threads that colonial disruption could not sever.
With breathtaking imagery and intimate storytelling, the film brings us into the spaces where trauma is not “treated” but held, where stories, prayers, medicines, and rituals offer pathways back to connection.
Mauri does not explain Māori healing. It moves with it – listening to what still pulses beneath silence, and honoring what remains alive in the hands of those who never forgot.
The Guardians
Guest Speakers & Indigenous Wisdom Keepers
Mauri Talks Global Gathering Schedule
A Journey of Remembering, Healing, and Reimagining
Day 1
LIVE @ 1:00 - 1:30 PM PDT
9:00 - 9:30 AM NZDT (OCT 15)
Welcome & Opening Karakia (Prayer Circle) & Pūrākau (Story)
w/ Tāngaroa Ngaropo-Tāwio, Atarangi Murupaenga, Mark Kopua. Hosted by: Maurizio and Zaya Benazzo
LIVE @ 1:30 - 2:40 PM PDT
9:30 - 10:40 AM NZDT (OCT 15)
Mauri Film Communal Screening
LIVE @ 2:45 - 3:15 PM PDT
10:45 - 11:15 AM NZDT (OCT 15)
Q&A
w/ Atarangi Murupaenga & Mark Kopua
LIVE @ 3:30 - 4:30 PM PDT
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM NZDT (OCT 15)
The Art of Mahi Raakau (Self Healing) Workshop
w/ Atarangi Murupaenga
We will explore in community
› Holistic principles and elements for healing
› How to use rākau (wooden tools)
› Listening to the body’s truth
Day 2
LIVE @ 1:00 - 2:00 PM PDT
9:00 - 10:00 AM NZDT (OCT 16)
Opening the Pacific Ocean Stargate
w/ Tāngaroa Ngaropo-Tāwio
We will explore in community
› Our breath & the breath of our ancestors
› A Sacred Covenant with Ra‘iātea
› From deep-sea navigation to celestial navigation
RECORDED @ 2:00 - 3:00 PM PDT
10:00 - 11:00 AM NZDT (OCT 16)
Teaching, Tradition, and the Echo of Mōteatea
w/ Tenga Rangitauira
We will explore in community
› Reclaiming Education Through Ancestral Language and Rhythm
› Mōteatea as Memory, Medicine, and Movement
› Carrying the Flame: Story, Responsibility, and Spiritual Guidance
RECORDED @ 3:00 - 3:05 PM PDT
11:00 - 11:05 AM NZDT (OCT 16)
Mōteatea
w/ Tenga Rangitauira
Day 3
LIVE @ 1:00 - 2:00 PM PDT
9:00 - 10:00 AM NZDT (OCT 17)
The Medicine of the Forest and the Land: A Conversation
w/ Donna Kerridge and Tohe Ashby
We will explore in community
› Listening to the language of the Ngahere (forest)
› Healing the whānau (people) and the whenua (land) as one
› Carrying ancestral knowledge forward for future generations
RECORDED @ 2:00 - 3:00 PM PDT
10:00 - 11:00 AM NZDT (OCT 17)
Remembering Through the Land: A Conversation
w/ Tohe Ashby
We will explore in community
› Rongoā Māori is more than medicine
› Healing begins with permission
› Wellbeing includes land, lineage, and spirit
RECORDED @ 3:00 - 3:05 PM PDT
11:00 - 11:05 AM NZDT (OCT 17)
Pūrākau
w/ Mark Kopua
Day 4
LIVE @ 1:00 - 2:00 PM PDT
9:00 - 10:00 AM NZDT (OCT 18)
Weaving Currents of Care and Resistance
w/ Erin Matariki Carr, Tina Ngata
We will explore in community
› Decolonizing Our Relationship with Natural Resources
› Revitalizing Indigenous values for planetary regeneration
› Indigenous governance for sustainable futures
RECORDED @ 2:00 - 3:00 PM PDT
10:00 - 11:00 AM NZDT (OCT 18)
Healing with the Ancestors: From Birth to Death TRT: 1hr 10min
w/ Awhitia Mihaere
We will explore in community
› The placenta as a carrier of wisdom and guidance
› Colonization’s impact on birth and land
› Spirit work in prisons, births, and death
RECORDED @ 3:00 - 3:05 PM PDT
11:00 - 11:05 AM NZDT (OCT 18)
KAPA Haka
w/ Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue
Day 5
LIVE @ 1:00 - 2:00 PM PDT
9:00 - 10:00 AM NZDT (OCT 19)
The Maori Star Compass and the Sea's Embrace
w/ Captain Stan Conrad
We will explore in community
› The History of the Waka as a sacred vessel
› Te kapehu whetū, the compass as a mental construct
› Voyages as reclamation and revitalization of culture
RECORDED @ 2:00 - 2:20 PDT
10:00 - 10:20 AM NZDT (OCT 19)
Wayfinders of the Ancestors: Ocean, Stars & the Spirit of Navigation
w/ John Panoho
We will explore in community
› Ancestral knowledge carried on waves and wind
› Resilience, relationship, and reverence at sea
› What ancient navigation offers us today
RECORDED @ 2:30 - 3:15 PM PDT
10:30 - 11:15 AM NZDT (OCT 19)
The Body Already Knows: Rongoā Māori and the Art of Listening
w/ Atarangi Murupaenga
We will explore in community
› The body tells the truth — no story needed
› Rongoā Māori is remembering, not learning
› Laughter, grief, and spirit all belong in healing
RECORDED @ 3:15 - 3:20 PM PDT
11:15 - 11:20 AM NZDT (OCT 19)
Mōteatea
w/ Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue
LIVE @ 3:20 - 3:30 PM PDT
11:20 - 11:30 AM NZDT (OCT 19)
Closing Ceremony
w/ Tāngaroa Ngaropo-Tāwio
WISDOM OF THE ANCESTORS 12–FILM SERIES
The Eternal Song
If an Owl Calls
Your Name
LAND: UNIST’OT’EN YIN’TAH (CANADA)
92 MINUTES • COMING DECEMBER 9-12
In the Circle of Life
LAND: BUNDJALUNG & WIRADJURI (AUSTRALIA)
75 Minutes • COMING FEBRUARY 2026
Little Singer
LAND: DINÉ BIKÉYAH (ARIZONA)
81 MINUTES • COMING APRIL 2026
Sila
LAND: KALAALLIT NUNAAT (GREENLAND)
COMING 2026
‘Āina
LAND: MOKUPUNI HAWAI’I
COMING 2026
Guarani-Kaiowá
LAND: MATO GROSSO DO SUL (BRAZIL)
COMING 2026
Mundurukú
LAND: DAJE KAPAP EYPI (BRAZIL)
COMING 2026
Maasai
LAND: OLOSHO LE MAA (KENYA)
COMING 2027
Haida
LAND: HAIDA GWAII (CANADA)
COMING 2027
Ifá
LAND: TSENACOMOCO (VIRGINIA)
COMING 2027
The Eternal Song
LAND: EARTH
Mauri
LAND: AOTEAROA (NEW ZEALAND)
If an Owl Calls
Your Name
LAND: UNIST’OT’EN YIN’TAH (CANADA)
In the Circle of Life
LAND: BUNDJALUNG & WIRADJURI (AUSTRALIA)
Sila
LAND: KALAALLIT NUNAAT (GREENLAND)
Little Singer
LAND: DINÉ BIKÉYAH (ARIZONA)
‘Āina
LAND: MOKUPUNI HAWAI’I
Guarani-Kaiowá
LAND: MATO GROSSO DO SUL (BRAZIL)
Mundurukú
LAND: DAJE KAPAP EYPI (BRAZIL)
Maasai
LAND: OLOSHO LE MAA (KENYA)
Haida
LAND: HAIDA GWAII (CANADA)
Ifá
LAND: TSENACOMOCO (VIRGINIA)
Sign up below for the Global Film Premiere of If An Owl Calls Your Name Film
Plus a 5-Day Online Gathering with Indigenous Elders, Healers, & Activists
December 9 – 13, 2025
SAND is a nonprofit organization under section 501.c.3 of the US tax code. Its headquarters are on Coastal Miwok and Southern Pomo Land in Sebastopol, CA. We thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.







