Kotuku Rerenga Rua follows Kotuku Tibble’s struggle for love and redemption as he battles through physical and spiritual illness to become the husband, father and tribal leader he was meant to be.

Only a few months after the completion of this short documentary, Kotuku died in his sleep. So his ‘rerenga rua’ – his ‘second flight’ – was far shorter than we had all had hoped for. The consolation we are left with is the legacy of love and culture he shared in the making of Kotuku Rerenga Rua and the fullness with which he lived the last year of his life. Our love and gratitude will always be here for Kotuku and Te Ō Kahurangi and their bravery in the presence of loss and life’s end. Ae ra Kotuku, ko to rerenga rua he rerenga poto, engari he rerenga hōhonu, he rerenga teitei, he rerenga mīharo, he rerenga aroha. Rere tonu atu rā e te rangatira.