Sun 20 Dec 2015 In: Entertainment View at Wayback View at NDHA
Ramon Te Wake takes time off from her role as a behind the scenes creative genius and chats about her latest appearance in front of the camera in the K Rd Story; Aroha. Having worked as a director for more than twelve years, Ramon says she was really wanting to get back in front of the camera and the short film Aroha was the perfect project for her. “I liked the tenderness of the story,” says Ramon, “Even though Nikki had a trans woman in mind for the lead character we both knew that it was a universal love story. “It was definitely a story I could relate to.” The film was screened at the latest K Rd monthly event First Thursdays as part of the K Rd Stories series which included ten different short films exploring the stories of Auckland’s legendary strip. Ramon says the audience had a really positive reaction to the film, even if she was only able to see the smiles as she peeked through her hands covering her face. “Once I got over myself I watched it properly at home and I thought Nikki did a fabulous job and Hans is so intense and soft and full of surprise and wonderment - he was stunning to work with,” she says. “I feel that Jade's story is my story”, says Ramon, “I said that to Nikki when I read the script.” She laughs; “Aue, the whole dating game - especially as a trans woman - is complex and sometimes just plain awkward. “You're dealing with similar issues to those in the film, men feel too embarrassed to meet you in public because they're afraid of being judged, there's a lot of that crap you have to deal with. “I try to avoid those situations, men with self-doubt, you either end up being their educator or they end up being your project and that yumminess of dating just gets lost in their stuff. So I prefer dating men who know who they are and who've had relationships with trans women so I don't have to go into it guiding them - trust me it's boring and so not sexy!” Ramon says this won’t be the last project she and director Nikki Si’ulepa work on together and the pair are already exploring future collaborations. “It's an evolving relationship which is awesome,” she says. Check out Aroha below: - 20th December 2015