BBFF25 Marlon Williams: Two Worlds - Nga Ao E Rua

Marlon Williams has long been one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most captivating voices - a singer-songwriter whose alt-bluegrass stylings and magnetic presence have seen him tour the world, support artists such as Florence + The Machine and Bruce Springsteen, and even win the admiration of Bradley Cooper, who invited him to appear in A Star Is Born. But behind the acclaim and relentless touring schedule, Williams began to feel the strain of being always on the road and never truly at home. This documentary picks up at that crossroads, as Williams steps back from the international circuit to return to the coastal town of Ōhinehou/Lyttelton where he grew up. Here he begins a personal and artistic undertaking unlike anything he has attempted before: to create an album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, written and sung entirely in te reo Māori, the language of his Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tai whakapapa. What follows is not just the making of an album, but an intimate process of reconnection - with family, heritage, and the identity he has felt divided between: part Māori, part Pākehā. Filmed across four years by director Ursula Grace Williams, the journey takes us from the quiet rhythms of small-town life to rehearsals in Melbourne, from packed international tours to reflective moments on the South Island’s wild coast. Along the way, we see Marlon collaborate with Lorde, Aldous Harding and Florence Welch, and hear the music that emerges - songs that are searching, flawed, brave and, above all, authentic. Blending candid behind-the-scenes glimpses with striking musical sequences, the film captures both the vulnerability of an artist in transition and the exhilaration of creative risk. More than a music documentary, it is a story about language, belonging, and the courage it takes to let art lead you back to your roots. In Ursula Grace Williams’s hands, Marlon’s journey becomes a moving portrait of an artist determined to honour where he comes from while forging a new chapter in his career.