Taika Waititi recently got in conversation with Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Nielson for Dazed, where they discussed the deeply entrenched racism against Polynesian and Maori people in their home country New Zealand.

Waititi, known as the director of films like Boy, What We Do in the Shadows, and Thor Ragnarok, told Dazed New Zealand is “Racist as fuck”.

“I think New Zealand is the best place on the planet, but it’s a racist place,” he continued. He asserted that people refuse to pronounce Maori names right, and racial profiling happens to Polynesians.

“I really cherish the memories of how I grew up, (but) it was actually pretty shit, growing up poor in the country,” said Waititi, who is of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui descent.

“I remember getting a job at a dairy and they would never give me a job at the till, I was always at the back washing vegetables. And then one day one of the owners asked me if I sniffed glue – like, ‘Are you a glue-sniffer?’ In my head I was like, ‘Motherfucker, you grew up with my mum!’ And I knew for sure that he didn’t ask other kids in the store if they were glue-sniffers.”

The filmmaker also detailed that he’s had a “patronising” reaction from people in New Zealand when he returns from Los Angeles, where he lives with his family.

“People in Auckland are very patronising. They’re like, ‘Oh, you’ve done so well, haven’t you? For how you grew up. For one of your people.’”

The reception to Waititi’s comments has been expansive. People online share their own experiences of racism they had experienced in New Zealand – one particular thread highlighted the disrespectful language used in their work place against Maori people, and wider examples of racism and xenophobia.