00:00
/
00:00
New Zealand Mirror No. 1
Short Film (Full Length) – 1950
New Zealand Mirror was an National Film Unit 'magazine-film' series geared towards the British market. Accompanied by nationalistic, upbeat narration, this first episode covers 'New Zealand Birds', and efforts to harness "Rotorua's Natural Heat". It visits a game park to see kiwi ("definitely queer birds") where, in a Disney-esque scene, two children meet a one-legged kiwi with a bamboo peg-leg; and boats over to Kāpiti Island to meet rockhopper penguin, tūī, kākā and weka. In Rotorua, geothermal cooking, backyard geysers, and heated baths and pools are explored.
If you liked this, you might also like...
New Zealand Mirror
New Zealand Mirror was a National Film...
Who's Killing the Kiwi?
A documentary on the plight of the kiwi
Legend of Birds
Another visit to Kāpiti to hang with the birds
Wild South - Sanctuary
A 1990 documentary on conservation efforts on Kāpiti
Rotorua Lookabout
A later NFU film looking at Rotorua's attractions
Kiwi - A Natural History
A documentary about the kiwi
Kāpiti Hono Tātati Hono - My Island, My Home
Film on people living at Kāpiti Island’s Waiorua Bay
Moa's Ark
A David Bellamy-presented series featuring NZ birds
Pictorial Parade No. 23 - Pumicelands
Another 1950s NFU film focussing on Rotorua
Crush
A feature film set amidst Rotorua’s geothermal area
Goodnight Kiwi
The end-of-broadcast-day animated icon
New Zealand Mirror No. 3
A later New Zealand Mirror
Pictorial Parade
Another NFU newsreel series
The Island
A 1961 children’s drama set on Kāpiti Island
Weekly Review
Another NFU newsreel series
Ghosts of Gondwana
A NHNZ film featuring kiwi
Volcanic Power
A film on harnessing geothermal power
New Zealand Mirror No. 24
Another episode of New Zealand Mirror
Island of Spirits
1973 film about Kāpiti Island
Pacific Viewpoint - Guide Bubbles interview
A famous Rotorua tour guide
New Zealand Mirror No. 12
New Zealand Mirror about tramping, trouts & trolling