The Waimate Conspiracy

This is an inspiring work. It's as if the camera left the film set for a bit and came out right amongst us. That's exactly what we were seeking to achieve with Ngāti.

– Director Barry Barclay

It doesn’t matter how many people know about it. It’s a secret.

– George Kepa (Jim Moriarty)

It looks like a fly-on-the-wall doco because that's exactly how we made it.

– Writer/director/producer Stefen Harris

a highly entertaining mock documentary which manages to be both exciting and politically pointed . . . an irresistibly enjoyable piece of work that easily transcends its microscopic budget to to make a great contribution to a debate not normally noted for its levity

– Peter Calder in a four star review, The NZ Herald, (TimeOut pullout), 22 February 2007, page 12

...this blend of fraud, forgery and other asssorted felonies will find favour with many.

– Christchurch Press reviewer James Crooot

I’d written five novels in 12 years before that one in order to write something worthy of being published. It was one of the easiest to write because it was quite tongue-in-cheek, quite comedic.

– Stefan Harris on writing novel The Waikikamukau Conspiracy, which inspired the movie, Radio New Zealand, 31 May 2023

The tribe will present compelling evidence to show that this parcel of land is owned by the surviving members of the tribe. We claim sir, the land was seized in an act of aggression in the year 1866...

– Barrister Jim Fairweather (Jim Firth) opens the case