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Hero image for Meet New Zealand

Meet New Zealand

Short Film (Full Length) – 1949

This post-war film was made to showcase New Zealand to UK audiences. Directed by Michael Forlong, the NFU film is a booster’s catalogue of contemporary NZ life. The message is that NZ is a modern pastoral paradise: open for business but welfare aware. Nature is conquered via egalitarian effort; air and sea links overcome the tyranny of distance; and science informs primary industry. Māori are depicted assimilating into the Pākehā world. Sport, suburbia and scenic wonder are touted, and an NZSO performance shows that the soil can grow culture as well as clover. 

The Māori community, 100,000 strong, is picking from European life those elements which it finds practical and agreeable, but with all the European gear and knowledge they acquire most people born into Māori families prefer to stay Māoris at heart.
– From the narration

Key Cast & Crew

Generic Profile image for Briton Chadwick

Briton Chadwick

Narrator

Generic Profile image for William Austin

William Austin

Narrator

Profile image for Selwyn Toogood

Selwyn Toogood

Narrator

Profile image for Michael Forlong

Michael Forlong

Editor, Writer, Director