History Man

Television (Full Length) – 2004

Michael King's Penguin History of New Zealand is not only a bestseller; the writer acted as a bridge between te ao Māori and Pākehā. History Man traces King's past, to understand the man behind biographies of Māori leaders like Princess Te Puea and Dame Whina Cooper, and author Janet Frame. This 70-minute documentary was commissioned only weeks before King and his wife Maria Jungowska died in a car accident. A detailed portrait of a beloved New Zealander, History Man was made by the same producer/director team behind documentaries on actor Ian Mune and pianist Michael Houstoun.

...when you say Pākehā I think he was very much Māori [laughter]. In his manner he was very much Māori, because he felt it inside him, in his heart, because of the researching that he had done . . . in my eyes particularly, he was more Māori than Pākehā.
– Dame Whina Cooper's son Joseph, on whether there were worries that a Pākehā was writing Whina Cooper's story