A day to spend in recognition of the history of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and how the culture has been moulded by feelings of pride, anger, hope, surrounding Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Aotearoa on screen: movies that move us
Our drama selections place Māori lives firmly at the centre of the story, refusing symbolism or stereotype, foregrounding whakapapa, grief, humour, resilience, and resistance. We meet women holding families together across generations of loss, young people navigating inherited stories that don’t quite fit, and communities confronting state power with collective strength. These are not abstract “issue films”, but close, human portraits of injustice, aroha, and survival.
Māori voices: Waitangi Day docs
Documentaries such as Te Hono Ki Aotearoa, Ans Westra and Rongoā Māori ask questions about whose voices have carried the weight of the nation’s story. Sailors, healers, photographers, and carvers emerge as unexpected historians through our documentary selections, showing how culture, identity, and pride are shaped over time - presentation by presentation, voyage by voyage.
Other documentaries, such as A Civilised Society, Someone Else’s Country, Hohou Rongo, Ngā Reta Māori, and Whakapapa of a Māori Phrase Book, move directly into the fault lines of politics, language, and power. They trace policy decisions, protest movements, and the patient, determined work of sustaining te reo Māori in letters, classrooms, libraries and everyday life.
Waitangi weekend: recommended series
Meanwhile, our recommended series to watch for Waitangi weekend can remind us that power is not only contested in Parliament. It is embedded in land, coastlines, resources, and in who is permitted to work, care for, and belong to particular places.
Together, they reflect on what it means to belong in Aotearoa when the rules, the language, and the ground beneath our feet are still shifting.
This Waitangi Day, our film selections invite you to watch carefully, reflect honestly, and listen to the complexity of different voices represented in the Stories of Aotearoa.
Watch for FREE with a participating library card or on a 30-day trial. Also, you can rent a film for 72 hours.
Hongi -a Maori chieftain’s teenage son - must avenge his father's murder in order to bring peace and honour to the souls of his loved ones after his tribe is slaughtered through an act of treachery.
After suffering a nervous breakdown, chess player Genesis Potini (Cliff Curtis) volunteers to teach a group of disadvantaged children how to play the game.
Inspired by actual events, MURU is the story of a local Police Sergeant 'Taffy' Tawharau (Cliff Curtis), who must choose between his badge and his people, when the Government launches an armed raid through his Ruatoki...
When Bunny and Aila face the challenges of new motherhood, they develop a precarious friendship leading each to confront her past and come to terms with the paternity of her baby.
At the turn of the last century a South African living in New Zealand - an ex-Boer War guerilla - is sent out to bring back a Maori accused of killing a British soldier.
Whetū Mārama: Bright Star is the story of Sir Hekenukumai Ngaiwi Puhipi, aka Hek Busby, and his significance for Māori in rekindling their wayfinding DNA and for all New Zealanders in reclaiming our place as traditional star...
A request from Holland's National Museum of Ethnology to acquire a Māori war canoe (waka taua) as a permanent exhibit resulted in master builder Hector Busby being commissioned to craft one.
A biopic on the extraordinary life of William Rhodes-Moorhouse, a daredevil pilot of Māori descent who was the first airman ever to be awarded the Victoria Cross, the most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the...
An exploration into the relationship and the context of early Auckland as shared in letters exchanged between significant Māori Rangatira [chiefs] in 1863.
An exploration into the provenance of a significant historical document, Hohou - The Peace Covenant, and its discovery amongst the paper of the Old Colonists Museum Collection.
Owen Boynton takes us on a journey through the beautiful scenery of New Zealand. With the help of local experts, he unearths historical approaches to hunting, fishing and bushcraft practices.
Families call on some big-hearted but practical Aunties to help them through the rocky terrain of modern life, from money woes to health problems and love life troubles. Real people, real problems.
Six courageous and charismatic characters battle the tempestuous elements of Southern New Zealand, in search of sea urchins for fine diners around the globe.
Operation 8: Deep in the Forest examines the so-called 'anti-terror' raids that took place around New Zealand on October 15, 2007 - asking how and why they took place and at what cost to those targeted.
Post World War II, New Zealand education underwent major changes. This documentary shows the changes and the people who worked tirelessly to establish an arts-centered, bicultural educational system.
Beamafilm is a premium video streaming service that specialises in delivering digital library video collections and academic streaming media to educational & public libraries, B2B institutions, & cultural organisations across the globe.
