Hinemoa (1914 film)

Hinemoa
Promotional screen shot
Directed by	George Tarr
Produced by	Edward Anderson
Starring	Hera Tawhai (Hinemoa) Rua Tawhai (Tutanekai) Miro Omahau (Tiki) Tamai Omahau (Ngararanui)
Cinematography	Charles Newham
Release date	17 August 1914, Lyric Theatre, Auckland
Running time	42 minutes
Country	New Zealand
Language	Silent
Budget	₤50

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".^[1]

Plot

The film told the Māori legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai. No prints are known to have survived.

Production

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.^[2]

Legacy

The film opened at the Lyric Theatre, Auckland during the first week of World War I, and performed well. It then toured the country and was later exhibited overseas.

The promotional image of Hinemoa featured on the 40c stamp of the New Zealand Post 1996 "Centenary of New Zealand Cinema" stamp issue.^[3]

The New Zealand Film Archive lists in its holdings tape of an undated radio interview with George Tarr and Hera Tawhai Rodgers about the making of the film. (Rodgers was 76 at the time of the interview, so it was probably in the 1960s)^[4]

References