New Zealand Daily News
Takataapui TV to return - without presenters
By GayNZ.com News Staff
25th March 2008 - 05:35 pm

A sixth series of the award-winning Maori Television LGBT programme Takataapui will screen next month - at an earlier timeslot and without on-screen presenters.

From 28 April, Takataapui will screen each Monday evening at 9:30pm, with twenty episodes produced by a crew who remain entirely behind the scenes this time around.

"This series is different from the others in that it has no on-camera presenters at all," reveals producer Jude Anaru. "The format is that they are half-hour individual documentaries. We've finished filming them and everyone's over the moon with the episodes and our earlier timeslot."

For the first time in its history, the Takataapui crew flew to Sydney to produce episodes about LGBT Aboriginal people, and Kiwi drag legend Carmen.

"We also filmed at the Hand in Hand exhibition, which showcased gay artists from the Pacific, including Maori works from New Zealand. And we spent a day with Kyra Kum-Sing, who's an amazing young Aboriginal lesbian who told us her 'coming out' story," Anaru explains.

Takataapui is the world's first indigenous gay, lesbian and transgender television series. An episode focusing on hate crimes against LGBT New Zealanders was the joint winner of a Media Peace Award last year.