This NFU documentary reviews Māori in New Zealand in 1960 through the lens of Pakeha boosterism. It depicts Māori cultural revival and Māori being channeled into the cities into schools, housing, trades and labouring work. The Maori Today is of it's time: the narration advocates that Māori land to be consolidated into a single title (a policy today considered responsible for alienation of Māori by The Crown). However it contains some classic footage, such as artist E Mervyn Taylor working on prints inspired by Māori myth and of noted politician Eurera Tirikatene.

This documentary tells the 25-year history of Kohanga Reo via the influential figure of Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi (2014 New Zealander of the Year finalist). Kohanga Reo is a world-leading educational movement that revitalised Māori language, “by giving it back to the children”. Not eschewing controversy, director Tainui Stephens’ film journeys from a time when students were punished for speaking Māori to a present where they can have ‘total immersion’ schooling in te reo. The Qantas Award-nominated doco screened on Māori Television, and at indigenous festival ImagineNATIVE.

Something of an antipodean Seven Up! (a series of life-chronicling British documentaries) this documentary picks up on the stories of four young Māori — now middle-aged — 24 years after they moved to the Wellington as part of a Māori Affairs Department redeployment program. It makes liberal use of the original film to contrast the cowshed to cubicle journeys; and revisits Ripeka (now in Hamilton), Moana (Guam via Japan), Grace (Wellington), and Phillip (Brisbane), who reflect on the paths their lives have followed, and on their Māori culture and where 'home' is.

Made for television in the late 60s, this documentary pursues four young Māori  — Ripeka, Moana, Grace and Phillip  — as they transition from school, whānau and rural life to live in the city. The film follows them as they arrive in Wellington and attend a pre-employment course run by The Department of Māori Affairs, which offers accommodation and advice on employment options. Director Arthur Everard later became NZ's Chief Film Censor. A 1991 sequel To Live in the City 24 Years On, travelled across three countries to pick up on the lives of the four, now middle aged.

This edition in Prime’s television history series surveys Māori programming. Director Tainui Stephens pairs societal change (urbanisation, protest, cultural resurgence) with an increasing Māori presence in front of and behind the camera. Interviews with broadcasters are intercut with Māori screen content. The episode charts an evolution from Māori as exotic extras, via pioneering documentaries, drama and current affairs, to being an intrinsic part of Aotearoa’s screen landscape, with te reo used on national news, and Māori telling their own stories on Māori Television.

Ngāti Porou leader, land reformer, politician and scholar Sir Āpirana Ngata (1874-1950) is celebrated in this series about leading Māori figures, produced by TVNZ's Māori Department. Ngata was seemingly ordained for greatness from birth. The first Māori university graduate, he was an MP and a Minister of Native Affairs, and a firm believer that Māori had to live alongside Pākehā and learn from them. Reforms he instituted helped his people retain their lands and language; and he led a cultural renaissance that revitalised action songs, waiata and haka.  

Māori Television’s award-winning news and current affairs show took its bold name from a colonial government department. This 2017 episode profiles four non-conformists: Mongrel Mob boss Rex Timu’s war on P; Raihania Tipoki's waka protest against East Coast oil surveying; Taranaki mother Tina Tupe's preparations for her own tangi; and globetrotting screenwriter David Seidler. Seidler makes an annual trip to a Tarawera cabin – he has a Kiwi son to a Māori woman – and talks about his Oscar-winning movie The King’s Speech, and his admiration for kapa haka.

Private Journeys / Public Signposts turns the camera on photographer Ans Westra. Dutch emigree Westra has captured iconic images of New Zealanders since the late 1950s, expressively observing Aotearoa societal changes, particularly Māori urban drift. This film explores her remarkable life and work, and includes commentary from family and friends, fellow photographers, and colleagues, as well as discussion of the Washday at the Pa controversy. Luit Bieringa, curator of Westra's retrospective photo exhibition, directed the film, his first. 

There is a Place is one of many Kiwi tourism films that Hugh Macdonald (This is New Zealand) made for the National Film Unit. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proved unhappy with the original version, the director was forced to remove “all parts of the film that offend the sensitivities of Foreign Affairs.” Macdonald ended up cutting it in half, removing "anything that reflects badly on the country". The end result is a quick stroll through New Zealand’s four main cities, and a brief look at everything the locals hold dear: rugby football, agriculture, public bars, and pottery.

In 1885 the NZ Government used legislation to take ownership of sections of Bastion Point (Takaparawhau) for defence purposes. This ancestral Māori land belonging to Ngāti Whātua was never returned, and in 1976 Crown announced plans to sell off land for housing. Joe Hawke led a group of peaceful protesters which occupied the land for 507 days, until they were forcibly removed by 700+ police and soldiers. This documentary, which screened as part of the Perspective current affairs series, examines some of the issues behind the protest that polarised a nation.