What is it like when you visit your homeland but no one from your ancestors is there? Who would you ask for advice? I asked Tane Mahuta – god of forests and of birds – who guided me to New Zealand for my awakening. I get in touch with the Dalmatian Cultural Society in Auckland and experience a new kind of “home” on the other side of the world.

As a creator and part of human history Tane Mahuta – god of forests and birds – is one of the most well-known figures of Maori mythology. The Maori gods are often seen as children of Mother Earth and Father Sky, struggling for freedom in today’s societies. After European settlers cut down the kauri trees on the North Island Tane fled to the Lika/Croatia, where he remained in hiding until March 2017. Not willing to give up his children, he travels to New Zealand – raising questions like: where do we come from and do borders only exist in our minds?

Directed by Sebastian Danilo Willems (Germany)