ʻATENISI INSTITUTE

‘Atenisi’s former faculty member and film biographer – Paul Janman – received his PhD late this month after a bravura defense of his cinematic dissertation “Ambush Road: Alterities of Time and Voice Toward a Cinematic Understanding of ‘The Great War for New Zealand’.” The multimedia thesis addresses the battle for the Kiwi soul from European and Māori-Moana perspectives.

Janman taught literature at ‘Atenisi from 2004-05 after earning an M.A. in anthropology from the University of Auckland. His recent doctorate is being awarded by AUT’s School of Communication Studies, where he continues to lecture parttime.

In 2012 the filmmaker screened “Tongan Ark” at the New Zealand International Film Festival, a documentary that depicted ‘Atenisi’s poignant struggles and achievements since its inception. During the festival the movie garnered a favourable review in the New Zealand Herald.

“Ambush Road” approaches Kiwi conflict through the lens of a Welsh outsider, Janman’s native nationality. And it is in fact that remote lens that appeared to delight his thesis supervisors, design profs. Dafydd Sills-Jones and Albert Rifiti. The committee found Janman’s film “fascinating and thought-provoking … demonstrating technical proficiency with all aspects of the filmmaking process.” Significantly the movie demonstrates “how European critical theory can expand its canon through Māori-Moana (Tā Vā/Wā) thinking and doing.”