List of New Zealand films

This is a list of feature films and pre-1910 short films produced or co-produced by New Zealand companies (with some early 1900s exceptions), ordered by the year of release.

Title	Director(s)	Genre	Notes
1898
Opening of the Auckland Industrial and Mining Exhibition	Alfred Henry Whitehouse	Documentary	First NZ film; lost^[1]
Māori Scenes	Joseph Perry	Documentary	First NZ films of Māori; lost
Uhlan winning the Auckland Cup at Ellerslie Racecourse †	Alfred Henry Whitehouse	Documentary	First NZ horse-race filmed;lost^[1]
1899
Regatta scene	Alfred Henry Whitehouse	Documentary	lost^[2]
Maori Canoe Hurdle Race at Waikato	Alfred Henry Whitehouse	Documentary	lost^[2]
1900
The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War	Alfred Henry Whitehouse	Documentary	Oldest surviving NZ film
The World's First Lady Mayor	Enos Silvanus Pegler	Docu-drama	Re-enactment of 1893 speech
1901
Royal Visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to New Zealand	Joseph Perry	Documentary	lost^[1]
Waimangu Geyser in action	Joseph Perry	Documentary	lost^[1] Waimangu Geyser
Dummy Mace	Franklyn Barrett		staged boxing match
1903
A Message from Mars	Franklyn Barrett	Drama	First science fiction film made in NZ; lost^[1]
Ally Sloper as a Conjuror	Franklyn Barrett	Comedy	Harry Hall of Masterton as Ally Sloper
Ally Sloper on Holiday	Franklyn Barrett	Comedy	shot at Days Bay
Ally Sloper at the Races	Franklyn Barrett	Comedy	filmed at the old Hutt Park racecourse
1908
The Sea Coasts of New Zealand	Franklyn Barrett	Documentary

Title	Director(s)	Genre	Notes
1913
Hinemoa	Gaston Méliès		First NZ feature film; lost^[1]
How Chief Te Ponga Won His Bride	Gaston Méliès		lost^[1]
Loved by a Maori Chieftess	Gaston Méliès		lost^[1]^[3]^[4]
The River Wanganui	Gaston Méliès	Documentary
1914
Hinemoa	George Tarr	Romance	First feature film with a NZ producer and director;^[5] lost^[3]
1916
A Maori Maid's Love	Raymond Longford		lost^[3]
The Mutiny of the Bounty	Raymond Longford		lost^[3]
The Test	Rawdon Blandford	melodrama	lost^[3]

Title	Director	Genre	Notes
1921
Beyond	William Desmond Taylor	Drama	lost^[3]
The Betrayer	Beaumont Smith	Drama	lost^[3]
The Bloke from Freeman's Bay	Rudall Hayward	Comedy	Hayward's first film
1922
The Birth of New Zealand	Harrington Reynolds		Earliest New Zealand film of which footage (fragments only) are known to still exist.^[3]
My Lady of the Cave	Rudall Hayward
Ten Thousand Miles in the Southern Cross	George Tarr	Documentary/travelogue
1923
The Romance of Sleepy Hollow	Henry J. Makepeace		lost^[3]
1924
Rewi's Last Stand	Rudall Hayward		fragments only remain^[3]
Venus of the South Seas	James R. Sullivan
1925
The Adventures of Algy	Beaumont Smith
Glorious New Zealand	Arthur Messenger	documentary	^[3]
1927
Carbine's Heritage	Edwin Coubray (Ted)		lost^[3]
The Romance of Hine-moa	Gustav Pauli		lost^[3]^[6]
The Te Kooti Trail	Rudall Hayward	Historical drama
Under the Southern Cross	Gustav Pauli		lost^[3]
1928
The Bush Cinderella	Rudall Hayward
1929
Under the Southern Cross	Lew Collins		a.k.a. The Devil's Pit or Taranga. Only fragments remain^[3]

Title	Director	Genre	Notes
1930
The Romance Of Maoriland	Edward T. Brown		Never released. Intended as New Zealand's first feature-length "talkie". 30 minutes of footage only remain.^[3]
1934
Romantic New Zealand		travelogue	New Zealand's first released "talkie" film.^[3]
1935
Down on the Farm	Stewart Pitt		New Zealand's first non-documentary "talkie". Fragments only remain. First film shot entirely in the South Island.^[3]
Hei Tiki	Alexander Markey		a.k.a. Primitive Passions, A Saga of the Maoris.^[3]
New Zealand's Charm: A Romantic Outpost of Empire	Cyril James Morton	Scenic	^[7]
Magic Playgrounds in New Zealand's Geyserland		Scenic	^[7]
1936
Phar Lap's Son	A. L. Lewis		a.k.a. Phar Lap's Son?. Lost.^[3]
On the Friendly Road	Rudall Hayward	drama	Features early New Zealand media personality Colin Scrimgeour in a lead role, playing his radio persona, "Uncle Scrim".
The Wagon and the Star	J. J. W. Pollard	drama	Only one reel remains.^[3]
1937
New Zealand Review no.1, Holiday Sounds		Scenic	^[7]
1938
New Zealand Review No.5, Mountain Holiday		Scenic	^[7]

Title	Director	Genre	Notes
1940
Rewi's Last Stand	Rudall Hayward	Historical drama/War	^[8]
One Hundred Crowded Years	H H Bridgman	Docu-drama	Official Centennial film
1941
Country Lads	Stanhope Andrews	Patriotic propaganda	National Film Unit

List of New Zealand films

Key

Pre 1910

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

See also

References

Further reading

Wikiwand - on

Title	Director	Genre	Notes
1950
1950 British Empire Games		Sports documentary	^[3] 1950 British Empire Games
Journey for Three	Michael Forlong	Immigration propaganda
1952
Broken Barrier	John O'Shea	Drama	^[8]
1954
Royal New Zealand Journey / A Queen's Royal Tour	Oxley Hughan	Documentary	1953–1954 royal tour of New Zealand
The Seekers	Ken Annakin	Adventure	Location shooting for British film with NZ setting.^[8]

Title	Director	Genre	Notes
1964
140 Days Under the World	Geoffrey Scott	Documentary	1965 Academy Award Nominee: Documentary Short.^[9]
Runaway	John O'Shea	Drama	First film appearance for several noted New Zealand media personalities, including Selwyn Muru, Barry Crump, and Kiri Te Kanawa.^[3]
1966
Don't Let It Get You	John O'Shea	Comedy	^[10]

Title	Director	Genre	Notes
1970
This is New Zealand	Hugh Macdonald	Documentary	Made for Expo '70 in Osaka, projected over three screens
1972
To Love a Maori	Rudall Hayward		Shot on 16mm. New Zealand's first colour feature film; Hayward's last film.^[8]
1973
Rangi's Catch	Michael Forlong	Children's drama	Film debut of Temuera Morrison^[3]
1974
Games '74	John King, Sam Pillsbury, Paul Maunder, Arthur Everard	Sports documentary	1974 British Commonwealth Games
1975
Landfall †	Paul Maunder		shot on 16mm^[8]
Test Pictures: Eleven Vignettes from a Relationship †	Geoff Steven	Drama	^[11]
1976
Off the Edge †	Michael Firth	Skiing	^[8]
1977
Sleeping Dogs	Roger Donaldson	Drama/action	First NZ film to open in the U.S.
Solo	Tony Williams
Wild Man	Geoff Murphy		^[12]
1978
Angel Mine	David Blyth	Fantasy	^[13] Art New Zealand
Skin Deep *	Geoff Steven	Drama	^[14]
1979
Middle Age Spread *†	John Reid	Comedy	shot on 16mm
Sons for the Return Home *†	Paul Maunder	Drama	^[15] based on the 1973 book by Albert Wendt

Title	Director	Genre	Notes
1980
Beyond Reasonable Doubt	John Laing	Drama	Based on the true story of the Crewe murders and wrongful conviction of Arthur Allan Thomas
Squeeze	Richard Turner	Drama	shot on 16mm
A Woman of Good Character	David Blyth	Historical drama	^[16] AKA Lizzie; shot on 16mm
1981
Bad Blood *	Mike Newell	drama	NZ-British co-production^[8]
Dead Kids / Strange Behaviour / Shadowland †	Michael Laughlin	horror	AU-NZ-US co-production^[8]
Goodbye Pork Pie *	Geoff Murphy	comedy, road movie	^[8]
Pictures †*	Michael Black		^[8] Entered into the 12th Moscow International Film Festival
Race for the Yankee Zephyr	David Hemmings	action	Australia - NZ co-production^[8]
Smash Palace *	Roger Donaldson	drama	^[8]
Wildcat †	Ross Prosser, Russel Campbell, Alister Barry		shot on 16mm^[8]
1982
Carry Me Back †*	John Reid	comedy	^[8]
The Scarecrow *	Sam Pillsbury		^[8]
Battletruck (reissued as Warlords of the 21st Century)	Harley Cokliss	action	Hollywood film shot on location^[8]
1983
Among the Cinders †*	Rolf Hädrich	Drama	^[17]
Heart of the Stag †	Michael Firth	Drama	^[8]
It's Lizzie to Those Close / Lizzie †*	David Blyth	Historical drama	shot on 16mm^[8]
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence	Nagisa Oshima	War	location shooting for British-Japanese co-production^[8]
Patu! †*	Merata Mita	documentary	^[8]
Savage Islands / Nate and Hayes †	Ferdinand Fairfax	Adventure	^[8]
Second Time Lucky †	Michael Anderson	comedy	^[8]
Strata †	Geoff Steven		^[8]
Trespasses †	Peter Sharp		^[8]
Utu *	Geoff Murphy	historical action	Screened at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival^[8]
Wild Horses †*	Derek Morton	Drama	^[18]
War Years †	Pat McGuire		^[8]
1984
Constance *	Bruce Morrison	Drama	^[8]
The Bounty	Roger Donaldson	Adventure	Location shooting for Australian/US production^[8]
Death Warmed Up †*	David Blyth	horror/thriller	^[8]
Other Halves	John Laing	drama	^[8]
The Silent One *	Yvonne Mackay	Drama	filmed in the Cook Islands^[19]
Vigil *	Vincent Ward	Drama	Nominated for Palme D'Or at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival^[20]
Trial Run *	Melanie Read	Thriller	First NZ feature film to be written and directed by a woman
1985
Bridge to Nowhere *	Ian Mune		^[8]
Came a Hot Friday *	Ian Mune	comedy	^[8]