‘Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito’ Wins Rimu Award at Māoriland

This year’s Māoriland Film Festival wrapped on 28 March with DEGANZ member Nicholas Te Hiko O Te Rangi Riini‘s Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito taking home the Rimu Award – People’s Choice for Best Feature Documentary. Fellow members Kim Webby and Mike Jonothan (on left) also worked on the doco as Executive Producer and Director of Photography, respectively.

Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito revisits the 1985 protest and occupation of the sacred mountain Taiarahia in the Ruatoki valley. When their sacred maunga was threatened to be stripped of its ancient native forest and replanted with pine for financial gain, the people of Te Māhurehure hapū stood up to protect the land. Forty years later, Taiarahia: Te Kākahu Tawhito reflects on that stand as a powerful reminder that the value of whenua, whakapapa and kotahitanga will always outweigh the value of a dollar.

It premiered at Māoriland as a feature documentary, but will be released on RNZ later this year as a docuseries. You can follow the project’s journey on social media on Instagram and Facebook.

Last updated on 9 April 2026

/by
You might also like
Millie Lies Low, Lying Low No More!
Liang Set to Direct Netflix ANZ Commissioned Series ‘Queenstown’
Curtis’ ‘Rapido’ Wins at imagineNATIVE
Show Me Shorts 2022 Programme Unveiled
Forster is Seeking Support for Documentary Feature ‘Abducted’
Snakeskin Newly Digitised