Te Rerenga Wairua (1984)

19세기 말. 20대의 미혼모 에이다는 아홉 살 난 사생아 딸 플로라를 데리고 얼굴도 모르는 남자와 결혼하기 위해 낯선 땅 뉴질랜드에 도착한다. 여섯 살 때부터 말하기를 그만두고 침묵을 선택한 에이다를 세상과 이어주는 유일한 통로는 피아노와 딸 플로라 뿐이다. 모녀를 데려가기 위해 해변가에 온 남편 스튜어트는 에이다에게 생명만큼이나 소중한 피아노를 해변가에 버려두고 집으로 향하게 한다. 피아노를 두고 갈 수 없었던 에이다는 바닷가에서 피아노를 연주하고 이 모습에 반한 베인스는 그녀와 비밀스럽고도 열정적인 사랑에 빠져드는데….

결혼한 지 18년이 된 베스(Beth Heke: 레나 오웬 분)와 제이크(Jake Heke: 테무에라 모리슨 분)에게 사랑이란 운명처럼 저항할 수 없는 것이었다. 호전적인 성격과 탄탄한 근육에서 쏟아져 나오는 정열을 가진 제이크는 아내 베스에게 세상 그 무엇보다도 소중하고 사랑스런 남편이었다. 세월이 흘러 뜨거운 사랑으로 맺어진 이들은 이제 어엿한 다섯 아이의 부모가 되어 있다. 그러나 베스에게 삶이란 생존의 의미로 다가서고 현실은 그녀의 영혼을 날카롭게 할퀴며 파고 든다. 백인 우위의 사회에서 하층계급으로 전락하여 빈곤에 허덕이는 마오리족의 운명을 타고난 베스에게 '희망'이란 사치스런 단어에 불과하다. 제이크의 실직과 도박, 음주 그리고 야수적인 폭력이 베스의 영혼을 좀먹기 시작한다. 그럼에도 불구하고 그녀는 가정이라는 테두리를 지키기 위해 자신에게 던져진 현실을 외면하려 애쓴다. 그러나 그러한 노력은 오히려 그녀를 파멸의 길로 이끌 뿐이다. 현실의 암울함에 미래를 포기한 큰 아들 닉(Nig Heke: 줄리안 아라한가 분)은 갱단에 가입하고, 둘째 아들 부기(Boogie Heke: 타운가로아 에밀 분)는 소년원으로 보내진다.

1980년대 초반, 뉴질랜드 동부 작은 마을의 마오리족 소년이 어린 동생, 사촌들과 함께 이모 집에서 살고 있다. 그러던 어느 날, 갑자기 소년에게 돌아온 아버지는 전쟁 영웅이 되어 활약한 무용담을 늘어놓는다. 물론 그 말은 죄 거짓말이며 아버지는 교도소에서 막 출감한 얼치기 건달이다. 배우이자 화가, 사진작가로도 활동하는 영화감독 타이카 와이티티가 마오리족 출신이라는 자신의 정체성을 반영한 작품이다. 감독 자신이 아버지로 분해 대책 없는 허풍과 온후한 부성의 극단을 오가는 인상적인 연기를 보여주며, 〈E.T>, 마이클 잭슨 등 80년대의 추억에 젖게 하는 노스탤지어 영화다.

19세기 중엽 뉴질랜드. 마오리족과 그 마오리 족을 지배하려는 영국 정착민들 간에 전쟁이 벌어진다. 아일랜드 여성인 사라는 이 두 집단의 사이에서 어느 쪽에 속해야 하는지 갈등하게 된다. 그녀의 아들이 마오리족인 할아버지에 의해 잡혀가게 되고 그녀는 아이의 생사여부가 확인되지 않는 상황에서 아이를 찾기 위해 7년간을 헤맨다.

Five years have passed and Jake has turned his back on his family. He's still up to his usual tricks in McClutchy's Bar, unaware, as he downs his latest opponent, that his eldest son, Nig, has died in a gang fight. The uncomfortable family reunion at Nig's funeral sparks a confrontation with second son, Sonny, and sets Jake and Sonny on a downward spiral.

아버지가 부족장인 16세 소년 홍이는 부족원들과 함께 다른 부족장의 아들인 위레파가 이끄는 전사 패거리를 맞이한다. 이들은 오래전 전투에서 전사한 자기네 조상의 유골을 찾아 장례를 치르러 온 것이다. 그러나 조상의 유골을 찾은 위레파는 엉뚱하게도 조상의 해골에 배설을 하고, 그 죄를 홍이에게 덮어씌운다. 부족장인 홍이의 부친은 홍이를 죽여서 죗값을 갚겠다고 하지만, 위레파는 이를 거절하고 복수전을 선포하고 돌아간다. 그리고 그날 밤, 위레파의 무리는 홍이의 마을을 습격해 홍이의 아버지를 포함해 남자들을 모조리 죽여 버린다. 가까스로 살아난 홍이는 복수를 다짐하며 위레파 무리를 따라나서고, 위레파 무리는 좀 더 빨리 자기네 부족에게 돌아가려고 지름길로 괴물이 지배한다는 ‘죽은 땅’을 가로질러 가기로 한다. 한편 홍이는 ‘죽은 땅’의 괴물에게 복수를 도와달라고 찾아간다. 괴물은 원래 위대한 전사였지만 과거에 분노에 휩싸여 자기 손으로 자기 부족을 몰살한 뒤로, 자기 땅을 침범하는 자들을 모조리 죽이며 괴물처럼 살아가고 있었던 것이다. 그는 자신의 슬픈 과거사와 묘하게 비슷한 홍이의 사연을 듣고는 그를 도와주기로 한다. 그리고 둘은 함께 위레파 무리를 뒤쫓기 시작하는데…

An ex-Boer war guerrilla in New Zealand is sent out to bring back a Maori accused of killing a British soldier. Gradually they grow to know and respect one another but a posse, led by the British Commanding officer is close behind and his sole intention is to see the Maori hang. Written by Filmfinders 1903. A guerilla fighter from the South African Boer war called Arjan (Winstone) takes on a manhunt for Maori seaman Kereama (Morrison), who is accused of murdering a British soldier. What follows is a cat and mouse pursuit through the varied landscape of NZ with both hunter and huntee testing their bushcraft and wits against that of the other. Written by Anonymous

Sophie loved Edmund, but he left town when her parents forced her to marry wealthy Octavius. Years later, Edmund returns with his son, William. Sophie's daughter, Marguerite, and William fall in love. Marguerite's sister, Marianne, also loves William. Timothy, a lowly carpenter, secretly loves Marianne. He kills a man in a fight, and Edmund helps him flee to New Zealand. William deserts inadvertently from the navy, and also flees in disgrace to New Zealand, where he and Timothy start a profitable business. One night, drunk, William writes Octavius, demanding his daughter's hand; but, being drunk, he asks for the wrong sister.

A documentary portrait of the pioneering indigenous filmmaker and activist Merata Mita and an intimate tribute from a son about his mother that delves into the life of the first woman from an Indigenous Nation to solely direct a film anywhere in the world. Known as the grandmother of Indigenous cinema, Merata’s independent political documentaries of the 1970s and 80s highlighted injustices for Māori people and often divided the country. Mita was fearless in her life, her activism and her art. Chronicling the director’s journey to decolonize the film and television screens of New Zealand and the world, the film documents her work, her early struggles with her family and her drive for social justice that often proved personally dangerous.

A hundred years after the theft from New Zealand of three irreplaceable tribal carvings, two Maori, Rewi and Peter, decide it's time for ancient grievances to be put right. Both men are in Berlin where the carvings are stored in a museum. Plans go awry when a group that Peter has assembled breaks into the museum. Rewi persuades the others to let him put his own, more daring plan into action. Tensions build and international media interest broadens when a sniper's bullet hits Peter.

This docudrama follows an imaginary news reporter who travels back in time to cover the days leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi’s 6 February 1840 signing. The production drops the usual solemnity surrounding Aotearoa’s founding document, and uses humour and asides to camera to evoke the chaos and motives behind its signing. Written by Gavin Strawhan, with Witi Ihimaera, What Really Happened screened on TVNZ for Waitangi Day 2011. Peter Burger won Best Director - Drama/Comedy at the 2011 Aotearoa TV Awards for his work. (from nzonscreen.com)

A psychological drama of a family in crisis. Kawa, a successful Māori businessman in Auckland, New Zealand, is forced to reveal his lifelong secret - that he is gay.

Ivan is the fierce patriarch of a family of Croatian refugees living in Auckland during the Yugoslav wars. Nina is his daughter, ready to live on her own, despite his angry objections. Eddie is the Maori she takes as her lover. Nina works at the restaurant where Eddie cooks. For a price, she agrees to marry another restaurant employee, a Chinese man, so that he can establish permanent residency. The money gives her the independence she needs to leave her parents' house and move in with Eddie. Complications arise when Eddie realizes the depth of her father's fury and the strength of Nina's family ties.

Will Bastion returns home from the army after an absence of 20 years to bury his father, the former chief of thee Maori tribe, Ngati Kaipuku. The eldest son, he is reluctant to inherit his fathers role, so it is taken more willingly by his younger brother, Kahu. Kahu is the leader of a band of drug dealers and trouble-makers who ride horses through the middle of town, wrecking peoples gardens. Under the guise of refusal of a land settlement, Kahu makes a large marijuana deal with some murdering city folk. Will must choose between loyalty for his brother and his father, Maori tradition, and contemporary financial issues.

Star-crossed lovers, Robert and Ariana, are caught up in the New Zealand wars of the 1860s. Ariana is claimed by the Maniapoto people as one of their own and, despite Robert's chivalrous defence, is taken by them and must help them prepare for war. Robert likewise must do his patriotic duty and enlists to fight on the other side. He volunteers to ride despatch, thinking it may give him an opportunity to see Ariana again, which it does, but their joy is short-lived; Maniapoto women fight beside their men, and furthermore she is a Rangitira (noble) and will not let her people down. The climax is the siege of Oraku Pa where 300 Maori hold off 2000 troops for three days. The Maniapoto are defeated, but Ariana, although wounded, survives to be reunited with Robert.

A western set in New Zealand during the 1820s following a group of British pioneers seeking a new life Down Under.

Rewi Rapana returns to the small country town of Te Mata after his family has left the district. His arrival rekindles old tensions as well as renewing family ties. He is seeking an identity and a permanent place to call home yet desperately hiding a secret from his past. Oddly enough there is one person with whom he finds peace of mind. She is an old woman known as Kara. A special relationship develops between Rewi, Kara and Kara’s great granddaughter Awatea.

A Maori warrior comes upon the aftermath of a battle to find that the only survivor is a wounded enemy soldier. His wishes to avenge his fallen countrymen by finishing off this helpless enemy but the gods won't allow it (as conveyed to him through a spirit bird). Anguished that he must instead treat the soldier's wounds, he's further repelled by the soldier's incessant homosexual advances. Slowly and surprisingly, a change comes over the warrior to accept the soldier's advances, but the war all too soon intrudes upon them.

Three Maori youths, bored with Auckland, head south in a restored Mark II Zephyr in search of something different. One of them is on the run from drug dealers, whom he had crossed. Various mini-adventures occurs as they make their way down the North Island, but it all comes to a head while visiting a cousin. Finally, they, the drug dealers and the police all come together, with the expected fights and arrests.

Eight Māori female directors have each contributed a sequence to this powerful and challenging feature which unfolds around the tangi of a small boy who died at the hands of his caregiver.