‘Yeah Pare’: Adventure at the Auckland Night Markets

Inspired by a true story and a true friendship, a new short film brings the wild imaginative world of children to life.

Presented by +64 Studios for Day One, Yeah Pare is about the frenzied journey of eight-year-old Filipino gamer, Janjan, who loses sight of his mum at the bustling Auckland night markets.

Janjan befriends a “mischievous” young vendor, Kiuga, and together they navigate the chaotic market maze, enigmatic customers, and the cultural contrasts between their respective Asian and Pacific heritages.

Lost or lost in adventure? Jhordan Tui’nukuafe-Jackson (left) plays a spirited vendor "Kiuga" with Mories Cruz playing "Janjan". Photo/Supplied

Co-director Albert Latailakepa (Ma’ufanga - Tonga, Luatuanu’u - Samoa) co-wrote the story with Filipino-Pākehā multidisciplinary award-winning artist Sean Dioneda Rivera.

Latailakepa joined The Morning Shack on NiuFM to speak about how his friendship with Rivera inspired the storyline.

“We’d gone to the Auckland Night Markets before and it’s buzzy. It’s a pretty cool place where you’ve got a mix of Asian and Pasifika kind of cultures.

“And we were like, ‘oh, we should do a film about this’."

Behind the scenes of "Yeah Pare". Photo/Supplied

“But that was with our botz as minds before we went, ‘oh now we actually have to make a film about it’ and the logistics came in,” he told TMS co-host Regan Foa’i.

“It kind of resembles me and Sean’s friendship and our cultures.”

Rivera and Latailakepa are graduates from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and have accumulated a number of theatre credits to their names.

Latailakepa is a proud Wellingtonian, however during his high school breaks he’d visit his mum who hails from the 275.

He says at the time, Wellington didn’t have night markets so it was always worth making the trip to Tāmaki Makaurau.

“My mum used to stay in Māngere when I was, like, during high school so I’d always come up and I’d always look forward to going to the night markets.

“I’d get lost in the night markets. And I told Sean about it and he was like, ‘bro, we should make a film’.”

Directing duo Sean Dioneda Rivera (left) and Albert Latailakepa. Photo/Supplied

The duo decided on having the story told through a kid’s perspective and cast Juann ‘Mories’ Barimbao Cruz as Janjan and Jhordan Tui’nukuafe-Jackson, son of Red, White and Brass star Haanz Fa’avae-Jackson.

The rising stars make their acting debut with Yeah Pare.

“They made our job a bit easier ‘coz they’re both quite talented at such a young age. It was pretty hard but we got there.”

Produced by the talented triple threat, Danny Aumua, who is also known for producing, writing and directing for TVNZ, Discovery Channel, and Fox Sports, Latailakepa describes him as being the “big brother on the project”.

He says working with kids had its challenges but Aumua helped iron out the kinks.

“Danny Aumua was about making sure we got a good performance out of them (the kids).”

Regan Foa’i was among a select few that had an early preview of the film and spoke highly of the arcade game-like graphics.

“The thing that’s so cool about it is that they’ve gone and turned it into a gaming experience. It just blew my mind!”

Latailakepa said a last minute decision combined with Aumua’s creative execution is what elevated the final product.

The word ‘pare’ in Filipino means ‘buddy’ and Latailakepa says while there’s plenty of exploration through the film, friendship is really the core theme.

Yeah Pare will preview to the public at the Hollywood Avondale on 3 September alongside seven other short film productions and will be free-to-view on Youtube the following day.