Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori marks a week-long celebration of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Indigenous language. With the revitalisation efforts of Te Reo being more prominent than ever, our big- and small-screen content has grown with it—and everyone’s a winner for that. Get some Te Reo Māori in your taringa with one of these highlighted films and/or shows.
Beyond the Veil
This dark anthology series brings together Māori, Pasifika, Filipino, and Chinese storytellers for a collection of standalone supernatural tales. While they’re all worth watching for varied reasons, particular episodes delve into Te Ao and Te Reo Māori. And there’s no better way to kick this show off this week than giving the first episode, Taumanu, a go—a crafty and grim tale of utu set in a 1929 colonial manor.
For a more contemporary show with significant use of Te Reo, there’s four seasons of bilingual drama Ahikāroa at the ready, and for more light-hearted watching, point your gaze to beloved docu-series The Casketeers and piercing animated comedy Aroha Bridge.
Muru
Following its electrifying reception at this year’s NZIFF as the Opening Night film, Tearepa Kahi’s action thriller currently sees a wider theatrical release across the motu. Considered not to be based on 2007’s Tūhoe police raids, but rather a response to it, the film’s boldness in how it addresses history makes it a riveting and essential watch, writes Rachel Ashby.
If you’re after a documentary on the events in question, The Price of Peace explores the 2007 criminal case where Tūhoe activist Tame Iti (who stars in Muru as Tame Iti) and three others were accused of plotting terrorist activities. And if you want another relevant cinema-to-doco pairing, look no further than Whina and TVNZ+ special Hikoi: The Land March.
Waiata / Anthems – Season 2
Following the successful first season, which in turn followed the successful album of the same name, this new season follows musicians Lorde and Tim Finn as well as new voices Mikey Dam and Paige, on their journeys transforming their big songs into Te Reo Māori.
We’d be hard-pressed to have an entry about music and Te Reo Māori without mentioning Tearepa Kahi’s seminal documentaries Poi E: The Story of Our Song and Herbs: Songs of Freedom as well as 2014 indie road-trip flick The Pā Boys.
Cousins
Making its free-to-stream debut on Whakaata Māori this Sunday, the long-awaited cinema adaptation of Patricia Grace’s novel opened last year to critical acclaim (we called it “a deeply moving dramatic triump”). Helmed by Waru directors Briar Grace-Smith and Ainsley Gardiner, this time-transcending Māori drama centres on three cousins, separated by circumstance, and their long journey to find each other.
While you’re browsing Whakaata Māori’s no-filler-all-killer library of films, make a note of the other Aotearoa cinema hits from the past decade. These include Mahana, director Lee Tamahori’s adaptation of Witi Ihimaera’s novel Bulibasha, Mt Zion, Tearepa Kahi’s feature debut starring Stan Walker, and The Dead Lands, Toa Fraser’s Te Reo Māori period action flick that topped the box office in its opening week.
The Lion King Reo Māori
Rest assured: this is much more than a translation. Released earlier this year, The Lion King Reo Māori returns to select cinemas this weekend in celebration of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Going beyond a word-for-word switcheroo, director Tweedie Waititi and her team realign meaning within the dialogue to outfit it for Te Ao Māori. “If you don’t really adapt it, you can throw people off the scent,” Waititi told us in this interview, “[it won’t show] our way of thinking [or] our way of speaking.”
The crew first pulled it off with Moana Reo Māori, currently available on Disney+, and have done it again with Frozen Reo Māori, coming to cinemas later this month.
Mauri
For a certified classic, Merata Mita’s feature narrative debut is a must-watch. Set on the New Zealand west coast, the film stars the great Anzac Wallace as a troubled man who steals the identity of another and embeds himself within the deceased’s community. While technically rough in parts, the film’s place in history is undeniable, utilising a kind of film language that could only come from Māori cinema.
To learn more about Mita’s impactful film career, her 1983 documentary Patu! can be viewed for free on NZ On Screen as can Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen via TVNZ+ and Whakaata Māori. And if you’re looking to mark off some more classics you may have missed, you could start with Utu Redux or Whale Rider.
Island of Mystery
For a more family-friendly watch, this kids animated series about a boy and his dog who get sent back 700 years into Aotearoa’s past can be viewed with a Te Reo or English dub. There are plenty more Māori cartoons for the tamariki, including educational show Pipi Mā and mythology-with-a-twist series Taiohi Gods.
