Libby Witheford-Smith Email & Phone Number

Tēnā koe! Ko Kāi Tahu, ko Kāti Māmoe, ko Waitaha ōku iwi. Te Whanganui ā Tara tōku kāika ināianei. Ko Libby taku ikoa. Creatively, I'm a fan of filmmaking and scriptwriting. I graduated film school in 2022, having written the student short Old Haunt, which went on to win awards, including Best Next Gen Short at Melbourne Women in Film Festival. Most recently, I directed Taurewarewa – a short documentary about experiences of bipolar disorder/whai arorua as told by three wāhine toa, which is available to watch on YouTube!Professionally, I contribute to Aotearoa's history by digitising archival video as part of the Utaina! project, a name which expresses "to load the waka with precious cargo". My area of operation is specifically VHS and U-Matic tapes. While it comes with some challenges, it's an area in which my interest is ever-growing, as home video and field footage has a very human quality to it; a quality which is well worth preserving.I have also recently completed a 200-level paper in Māori and Pasifika Creative Writing at Te Herenga Waka/VUW on my weekday off. I'm hoping to bring these skills, as well as my archiving experience, along with me so one day in the future I can help create heartfelt stories for the screen informed by the past. Aspiring for 'kia whakatōmuri, ki haere whakamua' energy always.Toitū te Tiriti. Mai i te awa ki te moana. Ka whawhai tōnu mātou, āke, āke, āke.