He Pānui

Te Hokinga Mai - a documentary series

Te Hokinga Mai o Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua was a concept initiated by the New Zealand Film Archive to provide a unique Marae based screening programme designed to reacquaint whanau, hapu, Iwi Maori with archival footage housed at the Film Archive.

Te Hokinga Mai o Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua screening programmes have been toured and enjoyed by many Iwi. Much of this taonga had not previously been made available in this capacity and features many tipuna, reaction to the screenings were always overwhelming.

It was from this reaction and the concept itself that inspired Auckland based production company, Kiwa Productions to initiate the idea of a collaboration with the Film Archive in a joint venture to provide a documentary format which explores the stories of Iwi with regards to their archival footage.

The screening of the Taonga Māori films at home amongst their people is the key element to the series. It is the excitement of seeing these films that the filmmakers have endevoured to capture as well as the uniqueness of the Te Hokinga Mai concept. The kaupapa and screening of the films on Marae is unique to New Zealand, and indeed the world.

Te Hokinga Mai - the television series - will document the stories that accompany the images. These include korero about who made the film, why and how it was made, who was involved, its significance then and now as well as many more revelations that have occurred along way.

The television series therefore aims to present the films from the perspective of the relevant Iwi and peoples. The four iwi included in the series are Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāpuhi.

The five part series, Te Hokinga Mai, aims to be informative and entertaining. The documentary will air on TV One later this year.

April, 2005