Welcome to Māoriland Film Festival, Aotearoa’s International Indigenous Film Festival. Each March, MFF welcomes Indigenous filmmakers from around the world to Ōtaki to celebrate Indigenous creativity and storytelling in film.
Māoriland operates year-round out of the Māoriland Hub where it presents wairua nourishing experiences in film, theatre, art, kōrero and more.
Māoriland is located on New Zealand’s Kapiti Coast, in Ōtaki – a vibrant town where Māori culture thrives.
With three immersion Māori language schools, one high school, and three Marae. It is also home to the country’s first Māori university campus – Te Wānanga o Raukawa. This pioneering institution has facilities catering for 2,500 students.
Widely known as ‘Sunny Otaki’, the town is well suited for big city commuters. There is a domestic airport 19kms to the south (in Paraparaumu) and Wellington, New Zealand’s capital is only 80km away.
Ōtaki has a population of 6,000 and is a picturesque beachside community with a small village in the centre. Behind the town to the east are the Tararua mountain ranges. It also has another bustling strip of shops on the main State Highway that dissects the “beach to mountains” landscape.
Ōtaki’s excellent facilities, strong Indigenous personality, and bounty from the sea and the land make MĀORILAND FILM FESTIVAL unique.