White Lies

90 mins +
Drama
Feature films

Based on the novella Medicine Woman by Witi Ihimaera, a medicine woman is asked to hide a secret which may protect one life but will destroy another in colonial New Zealand.

White Lies is about the nature of identity: those who deny it and those who strive to protect it.

Paraiti (Whirimako Black) is a Medicine Woman.

She is the healer and midwife of her rural, tribal people - she believes in life. But new laws are in force prohibiting unlicensed healers.

On a rare trip to the city, she is approached by Maraea (Rachel House), the servant of a wealthy woman, Rebecca (Antonia Prebble), who seeks her knowledge and assistance in order to hide a secret which could destroy Rebecca's position in European settler society.

If the secret is uncovered a life may be lost, but hiding it may also have fatal consequences.

So Paraiti, Maraea and Rebecca become players in a head on clash of beliefs, deception and ultimate salvation.