Māori-language Movies

19 movies found (page 1/1):

The Piano(1993)

3.7/5 (with 632 votes)

After a long voyage from Scotland, pianist Ada McGrath and her young daughter, Flora, are left with all their belongings, including a piano, on a New Zealand beach. Ada, who has been mute since childhood, has been sold into marriage to a local man named Alisdair Stewart. Making little attempt to warm up to Alisdair, Ada soon becomes intrigued by his Maori-friendly acquaintance, George Baines, leading to tense, life-altering conflicts.

Directed by Jane Campion - With Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Sam Neill, Holly Hunter, Tungia Baker, Bruce Allpress, ...

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Once Were Warriors(1994)

| 1h 39min | Drama

3.7/5 (with 173 votes)

A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.

Directed by Lee Tamahori - With Rena Owen, Temuera Morrison, Cliff Curtis, Julian Arahanga, Mamaengaroa Kerr-Bell, Ian Mune, ...

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Whale Rider(2003)

PG-13

| 1h 41min | Drama, Kids & Family

3.6/5 (with 162 votes)

On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.

Directed by Niki Caro - With Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Cliff Curtis, Rachel House, Tammy Davis

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Boy(2010)

| 1h 27min | Drama, Comedy

3.7/5 (with 165 votes)

Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.

Directed by Taika Waititi - With James Rolleston, Taika Waititi, Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu, Moerangi Tihore, RickyLee Waipuka-Russell, Rajvinder Eria, ...

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The Dead Lands(2014)

| 1h 48min | Adventure, Action

3.1/5 (with 48 votes)

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. Vastly outnumbered by a band of villains led by Wirepa, Hongi’s only hope is to pass through the feared and forbidden “Dead Lands” and forge an uneasy alliance with a mysterious warrior, a ruthless fighter who has ruled the area for years.

Directed by Toa Fraser - With Lawrence Makoare, Rena Owen, Pana Hema-Taylor, Te Kohe Tuhaka, James Rolleston, Xavier Horan, ...

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Uproar(2023)

1h 50min | Drama

4.5/5 (with 1 vote)

A 17 year-old student is forced to get off the fence he has actively sat on all his life to stand up for himself, his whanau (family) and his future in this heartwarming story of identity.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?(1999)

1h 48min | Drama

3.2/5 (with 23 votes)

Five years have passed and Jake has turned his back on his family. He's still up to his usual tricks in McClutchy's Bar, unaware, as he downs his latest opponent, that his eldest son, Nig, has died in a gang fight. The uncomfortable family reunion at Nig's funeral sparks a confrontation with second son, Sonny, and sets Jake and Sonny on a downward spiral.

Directed by Ian Mune - With Temuera Morrison, Rena Owen, Julian Arahanga, Lawrence Makoare

Utu(1983)

1h 58min | War, Adventure, Drama, History

3.6/5 (with 11 votes)

In New Zealand in the 1860s the native Maori people fought the British colonials to keep the land guaranteed to them by treaty. The warrior Te Wheke fights for the British until betrayal leads him to seek utu (revenge). The settler Williamson in turn seeks revenge after Te Wheke attacks his homestead. Meanwhile Wiremu, an officer for the British, seems to think that resistance is futile.

Directed by Geoff Murphy - With Bruno Lawrence, Wi Kuki Kaa, Merata Mita, Martyn Sanderson, Anzac Wallace

Broken English(1996)

NC-17

| 1h 32min | Romance / Love, Drama

3.3/5 (with 3 votes)

Ivan is the fierce patriarch of a family of Croatian refugees living in Auckland during the Yugoslav wars. Nina is his daughter, ready to live on her own, despite his angry objections. Eddie is the Maori she takes as her lover. Nina works at the restaurant where Eddie cooks. For a price, she agrees to marry another restaurant employee, a Chinese man, so that he can establish permanent residency. The money gives her the independence she needs to leave her parents' house and move in with Eddie. Complications arise when Eddie realizes the depth of her father's fury and the strength of Nina's family ties.

Directed by Gregor Nicholas - With Julian Arahanga, Rade Šerbedžija, Marton Csokas

Two Cars, One Night(2004)

12min | Drama, Comedy

3.4/5 (with 23 votes)

Sometimes first love is found in the most unlikely of places, like in the carpark outside the Te Kaha pub.

Directed by Taika Waititi

The Seekers(1954)

1h 30min | Adventure, Drama, Romance / Love

3.0/5 (with 2 votes)

A western set in New Zealand during the 1820s following a group of British pioneers seeking a new life Down Under.

Directed by Ken Annakin - With Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns, Inia Te Wiata, Noel Purcell, Kenneth Williams, Laya Raki, ...

Waru(2017)

1h 28min | Drama

3.2/5 (with 4 votes)

Eight Māori female directors have each contributed a sequence to this powerful and challenging feature which unfolds around the tangi of a small boy who died at the hands of his caregiver.

Directed by Ainsley Gardiner, Awanui Simich-Pene

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Muru(2022)

1h 44min | Drama, Action

5.0/5 (with 2 votes)

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 community, on a school day.

Directed by Tearepa Kahi - With Cliff Curtis, Jay Ryan, Manu Bennett, Simone Kessell, Tame Iti, Oriini Kaipara, ...

Ngati(1987)

1h 32min | Drama

3.0/5 (with 2 votes)

Set in and around the fictional town of Kapua in 1948, Ngati is the story of a Māori community. The film comprises three narrative threads: a boy, Ropata, is dying of leukaemia; the return of a young Australian doctor, Greg, and his discovery that he has Māori heritage; and the fight to keep the local freezing works open.

Directed by Barry Barclay - With Wi Kuki Kaa

Kawa(2010)

1h 16min | Drama

2.7/5 (with 3 votes)

A psychological drama of a family in crisis. Kawa, a successful Māori businessman in Auckland, New Zealand, is forced to reveal his lifelong secret - that he is gay.

Directed by Katie Wolfe - With Calvin Tuteao, Dean O'Gorman, Nathalie Boltt, George Henare

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Whina(2022)

1h 52min | Drama

4.0/5 (with 1 vote)

Biopic about the life of Whina Cooper, an activist who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of fellow Māori women.

Directed by James Napier Robertson, Paula Whetu Jones - With Rena Owen, James Rolleston, Vinnie Bennett, Miriama McDowell, Kali Kopae, James Tito, ...

The Maori Merchant of Venice(2002)

2h 38min

A modern day take on the classic bard tale - with Silver as a movie producer.

Directed by Don Selwyn

White Lies(2013)

1h 36min | Drama, History

2.9/5 (with 3 votes)

A medicine woman - a giver of life - is asked to hide a secret which may protect one life but which will destroy another.

Directed by Dana Rotberg - With Antonia Prebble

Down by the Riverside(2007)

1h 24min | Thriller

2.0/5 (with 1 vote)

An intertwining story of murder and mystery across two decades. In the early twentieth century, several pregnant girls meet in a country house, where they have been sent to give birth and have their children adopted. The girls are never seen by outsiders again. Almost twenty years later, two historians return to the house to research the case, and when the disturbing truth is revealed, the dark story continues.