In the early 1970s expat broadcaster Michael Dean took Aotearoa’s pulse, as it loosened its necktie and moved from “ice-cream on mutton, swilled around in tea” conservatism, towards a more cosmopolitan outlook. Dean asks the intelligentsia (James K Baxter, Tim Shadbolt, Peter Cape, Shirley Smith, Bill Sutch, Ian Cross, Peter Beaven, Pat Hanly, Syd Jackson, Hana Te Hemara) for their take. The questions range from “what does the family in Tawa sit down to eat these days?” to the Māori renaissance. Dean had made his name in the 60s, as a high profile broadcaster with the BBC.

Made by the NZ Broadcasting Corporation in the mid 1960s, this half hour TV documentary sets out to summarise New Zealand. More than a promotional video, it takes a wider view, examining both the country’s points of pride and some of its troubles. In a brief appearance Barry Crump kills a pig, although the narration is quick to point out that the ‘good keen man’ image he epitomises is also a root of the country’s problem alcohol consumption. The result is patriotic, but certainly not uncritical. Writer Tony Isaac went on to make landmark bicultural dramas Pukemanu and The Governor. 

"We are New Zealand - it's you and I" sings Minuit's Ruth Carr as images of everyday New Zealanders flash up on the screen. Directed by band member Paul Dodge, Minuit's video for 'Aotearoa' is a nostalgic trip through the archives — a celebration of NZ history starting with images of people and places, including Rangitoto, the Pink Terraces, Greytown's historic Revington's hotel through to Sir Edmund Hillary, Aunt Daisy and Ernest Rutherford, as well as national tragedies, protests and hikois — and even the six o'clock swill gets a look in.