Yakel 3D

World Premiere

Yakel 3D is New Zealand’s first 3D feature release, directed by Rachael Wilson and shot by Emmy Award winning cameraman Michael Single. It beautifully explores the fragility of one of the last primitive cultures left today.

Set in a remote Vanuatu tribal village and shot over three years, this is the remarkable story of 108-year-old Chief Kowia near the end of his long, eventful life. A survivor of tribal wars, colonization and epidemics, he has rejected the modern world in favour of a life free of material goods — without money or clothes. It is their jungle that provides life’s necessities.

As the charismatic Chief faces the end of his life, he worries what will happen to his people when he is no longer there to guide them. Can his culture stay strong? Or will his people be tempted by greater riches and leave behind their tribal lives?