Mike Jonathan

Documentary Hautoa Mā! The Rise of Māori Cinema reveals the remarkable impact Māori have made on New Zealand cinema.

Two young teenagers are forced to take control of their own destiny amid the chaos of a pivotal battle in New Zealand’s first land wars in 1864.

This film is an intimate portrayal of pioneering filmmaker Merata Mita told through the eyes of her children. Using hours of archive footage, some never before seen, her youngest child and director Hepi Mita discovers the filmmaker he never knew and shares the mother he lost, with the world.

A young Māori boy's fascination with war comics hits closer to home than he ever imagined.

Actor Rawiri Paratene was 16 years old when he joined Māori activist group Ngā Tamatoa (Young Warriors) in the early 1970s. "Those years helped shape the rest of my life," says Paratene in this 2012 Māori TV documentary, directed by Kim Webby. The programme is richly woven with news archive from the 1970s, showing protests about land rights and the Treaty of Waitangi, and a campaign for te reo to be taught in schools. Several ex Ngā Tamatoa members — including Hone Harawira, Tame Iti and Larry Parr— are interviewed by Paratene, who also presents the documentary.

Ancient Māori heroes of yesteryear, re-discovered, re-examined and re-imagined.

When a land claim faces opposition, Kaea Williams is drawn into a world rich in heritage and mystery, unravelling the secrets of Ngāti Kiokio. The past and present collide in unexpected ways.