Dark Sky Films together with Watermelon Pictures today announced the April 17th theatrical release of festival favorite MÃRAMA, a new genre-bending gothic horror feature from Indigenous Māori writer-director Taratoa Stappard (Taumanu, Emkhatsini). 

MÃRAMA had its world premiere at TIFF and went on to numerous prestigious festivals including Palm Springs, AFI Fest, Sitges and others.

MÃRAMA features Māori actor Ariāna Osborne (Madam, In A Flash) in a breakout lead role. She stars alongside British actors Toby Stephens (Black Sails, Die Another Day, Percy Jackson And The Olympians) and Umi Myers (Bob Marley: One Love, Dope Girls), as well as New Zealanders Erroll Shand (Savage, The Luminaries) and Jordan Mooney (The Bluff, Pike River).

MĀRAMA marks the first co-release between acclaimed genre distributor Dark Sky Films and Watermelon Pictures, a bold new force in independent film. United under the banner of parent company MPI Media Group, the two companies bring together a shared vision for fearless, boundary-pushing storytelling.

Set in North Yorkshire, Victorian England, 1859, MĀRAMA is the story of a young Māori woman’s fight to reclaim her identity and indigenous culture. When a young Māori woman is summoned from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers her horrific colonial heritage and is compelled to confront and destroy the titled Englishman who devastated her family.

MĀRAMA is produced by Sharlene George (Taumanu, Testify, Birds Eye View), co-CEO and Founding Partner of international production company The Sweetshop. The film’s other producers are Rickylee Russell-Waipuka (Taumanu, The Untold Tales of Tūteremoana), Rouzie Hassanova (Radiogram, Song for Serbia) with Paraone Gloyne as Pou Tiaki Reo & Tikanga (Māori Language & Culture Producer). Executive Producers include Victoria Dabbs, Gal Greenspan for Sweetshop Entertainment, Jill Macnab and Phil Bremner for Vendetta Films and Badie Ali, Hamza Ali and Greg Newman for MPI Media.