Rain Of The Children 2008

Drama meets documentary to unravel the extraordinary story of Puhi, an elderly woman of the Tuhoe iwi (tribe) who believed she had been cursed. Following on from an earlier documentary about Puhi, In Spring One Plants Alone (1978), Rain Of The Children sets out to unravel the mystery that has haunted the director for 30 years: Who was Puhi?

Selected as a bride for one of the prophet Rua Kenana's sons, Puhi was the mother of 14 children. She also experienced a succession of tragedies and witnessed many extraordinary events, including the 1916 police raid on the Tuhoe iwi. The film re-creates many of these dramatic scenes from Puhi's life with imagination, sensitivity and insight. These re-enactments are interspersed with early footage, interviews, and the director’s own narrative. In providing a compelling account of Puhi's life, the film provides us with glimpses of the Tuhoe people, their history, their communities, their prophet and their spirituality.