Synopsis

“A thoroughly devastating documentary on 82 year old Maori woman’s struggle for survival.”

Los Angeles Times

This is the story of Puhi, an aged Maori woman and Niki, her fully grown but wholly dependent son. The world they occupy is not a world of large events but the rituals of everyday life, traditions and interdependence. “In Spring One Plants Alone” documents the minutiae of their very enclosed existence. Filmed over a period of one and a half years, it emerges as a rare, haunting and powerful portrayal of their life together. This is the story of their rituals and of their survival. The small and disconnected instances that we encounter form a lone vision of the rifts and the bond between an old woman and her disturbed son.

An aged Maori woman, Puhi and her fully grown and wholly dependent son, Niki, occupy a world not of large events but the rituals of everyday life, traditions and interdependence. In Spring One Plants Alone documents the minutiae of their very enclosed existence, and filmed over a period of one and a half years it emerges as a rare, haunting and powerful portrayal of their life together. This is a life of ritual and of their survival. The small, disconnected instances that we encounter form a lone vision of the rifts and the bond between an old woman and her disturbed son.