Award-winning writer/director Miki Magasiva (The Panthers, We Are Still Here) makes his feature debut with Tinā (Samoan for "mother"). Samoan music teacher Mareta (Anapela Polataivao) is plunged into grief after losing her daughter in the Christchurch quakes. Mareta takes a relief teaching role at an elite private school, where she inspires her students to perform at a big choral competition. Tinā was chosen to open the 2024 Hawai'i International Film Festival, and in 2025 Polata'ivao and Antonia Eaton won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, at the New Zealand Screen Awards.

Taika Waititi's fourth feature is the tale of a city kid and a grumpy uncle on the run. Raised on hip hop and state care, Ricky (Shopping's Julian Dennison) goes bush with his foster uncle (Sam Neill), with the authorities on their tail. Wilderpeople is based on Barry Crump's book Wild Pork and Watercress. Keen to recapture the style of classic screen yarns like Came a Hot Friday, Waititi's goal was a funny, accessible adventure. The result won acclaim almost everywhere it went, including a massive seven wins at the 2017 Moa Awards, and became New Zealand's biggest-ever local hit at the time.

Smith (Sam Neill, in his breakthrough screen role) is devastated when his wife runs off with his best friend Bullen (Ian Mune), so escapes to the Coromandel. The government enlists an anti-terrorist force to crack down on its opponents, and Bullen — now a guerrilla — asks Smith to join the revolution. Directed by Roger Donaldson, this adaptation of the CK Stead novel Smith's Dream heralded a new wave of New Zealand cinema; one of the only Kiwi films of the 1970s to win a big local audience. A much-discussed scene includes a baton charge by government forces, predating the real-life conflicts of the 1981 Springbok tour.

Whale Rider follows Pai, a young Māori girl (Keisha Castle-Hughes) who challenges tradition and embraces the past, in order to find the strength to lead her people forward. Directed Niki Caro based her script on Witi Ihimaera's novel The Whale Rider. Coupling a specific sense of place and culture with a universal coming-of-age story, Whale Rider became one of the most successful New Zealand films released internationally. It  won Audience Choice awards at the Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals, and Castle-Hughes become one of the youngest actors to be nominated for a leading role at the Academy Awards.