Hinemoa

Hinemoa was an early film produced in New Zealand in 1914. It was claimed to be the first feature film produced in New Zealand, although it should not be confused with a film of the same name shot by Gaston Méliès a year earlier. It was billed as "The first big dramatic work filmed and acted in the land of the Moa" The film told the Māori legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai. No prints are known to have survived. The ₤50 budget was funded by Edward Anderson, of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce The film was shot on location around Rotorua in only 8 days. All the cast members were drawn from the Reverend F.A. Bennett's Māori choir. The film opened at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland during the first week of World War I, and performed well. It then...