Movies: Miriama McDowell

A school teacher is forced to confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of ruthless drifters takes him and his family on a nightmare road-trip....

One-time Maori speed-chess champ, Genesis Potini, lives with a bi-polar disorder and must overcome prejudice and violence in the battle to save his struggling chess club, his family and ultimately, himself....

A matriarch organizes a feast with her family, in which she will name her successor. The heart has gone out of Nanna Maria's family. There are no parties — they don't even fight anymore......

The story of Dame Whina Cooper, the beloved Māori matriarch who worked tirelessly to improve the rights of her people, especially women. Flawed yet resilient, Whina tells the story of a woman formed by tradition, compelled by innovation, and guided b...

1960s, East Coast of New Zealand. Two Māori sheep-shearing families, the Mahanas and the Poatas, are longstanding enemies and commercial rivals. 14-year-old Simeon Mahana, the youngest son of the youngest son is in conflict with his traditionalist gr...

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....

Based on the Pike River tragedy of 2010, this drama captures the profound impact of one of the worst mining disasters in New Zealand's history....

When a burglary goes wrong, a meth addict must choose between his family or his next fix....

This docudrama follows an imaginary news reporter who travels back in time to cover the days leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi's signing on 6 February 1840. Dropping the usual solemnity surrounding Aotearoa's founding document, it uses humour and ...

Based on a true story, STOLEN is an emotional thriller about every parent's greatest fear. Kahu Durie - the adopted baby daughter of Maori High Court Judge, Justice Eddie Durie and prominent lawyer, Donna Hall - is snatched at gunpoint as Donna pushe...

Two first-time single mothers - on a girl racer, the other a pianist and gardener - share a post-natal ward room after the birth of their babies and develop a precarious friendship. As they face the challenges of new motherhood, they must confront th...

A pregnant woman must fight for her life when she becomes the victim of a violent initiation....

"The universe can teach if you are willing to learn. Desperation and lack of any contingency creates delusion and false hope. Sacrifice deserves certainty – words like hope and potential are fairytales."...

One summer’s day, Jayde and Wiremu tag along with their older siblings on a trip to a local swimming hole; young passions ignite by the Rotorua hot pool. Later, tragedy occurs and Jayde faces lost innocence and the ritual of tangi while bearing a se...

A couple faced with a small animal's suffering don't know what to do; she suggests stepping on its head but he prefers to cover it up....