Movies Like Hautoa Mā! The Rise of Māori Cinema

If you liked Hautoa Mā! The Rise of Māori Cinema (2016), a movie directed by Libby Hakaraia, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Not Quite Hollywood (2008)
★ 6.8/10
As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were…
2
Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red (2022)
★ 6.8/10
A feature length documentary about the all-women team at the helm of Pixar's original feature, Turning Red. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, this story…
3
Wick Is Pain (2025)
★ 7.4/10
Witness the never-before-seen footage and true story behind the John Wick phenomenon – from independent film to billion-dollar franchise.
4
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)
★ 7.3/10
In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the…
5
The Piano (1993)
★ 7.4/10
When an arranged marriage brings Ada and her spirited pre-teen daughter Flora to the wilderness of 19th-century New Zealand, she finds herself locked in a battle of wills with both her controlling husband and a rugged…
6
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari (2022)
★ 7.2/10
A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019 in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing…
7
Beau Hunks (1931)
★ 6.8/10
Stan and Ollie join the French Foreign Legion after Ollie's sweetheart rejects him.
8
Our Wife (1931)
★ 7.1/10
Oliver is making plans to marry his sweetheart Dulcy with Stan as his best man, but the plans are thwarted when Dulcy's father sees a picture of Ollie and forbids the marriage. The couple plan to elope, and run away to…
9
The Convert (2024)
★ 6.2/10
Munro, a soldier turned lay preacher, comes to New Zealand to minister to the first British colonists, but he is converted by the powerful chief Maianui to serve a different purpose.
10
Capturing Avatar (2010)
★ 7/10
Capturing Avatar is a feature length behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Avatar. It uses footage from the film's development, as well as stock footage from as far back as the production of Titanic in…
11
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)
★ 7.8/10
A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.
12
Game of Thrones: The Last Watch (2019)
★ 7/10
For a year, acclaimed British filmmaker Jeanie Finlay was embedded on the set of the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones,” chronicling the creation of the show’s most ambitious and complicated season. Debuting one week…
13
Being James Bond (2021)
★ 7.8/10
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in…
14
Seduced and Abandoned (2013)
★ 6.2/10
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director…
15
Whale Rider (2003)
★ 7/10
A contemporary story of love, rejection, and triumph as a young Māori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
16
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999)
★ 6.6/10
Five years have passed and Jake has turned his back on his family. He's still up to his usual tricks in McClutchy's Bar, unaware, as he downs his latest opponent, that his eldest son, Nig, has died in a gang fight. The…
17
Once Were Warriors (1994)
★ 7.4/10
In a violent relationship, it takes a mother’s strength to save herself and her children from the man she loved. Once Were Warriors is a violent love story set against a contemporary urban backdrop.
18
Cargo (2017)
★ 6.4/10
After being infected in the wake of a violent pandemic and with only 48 hours to live, a father struggles to find a new home for his baby daughter.
19
Boy (2010)
★ 7.3/10
Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years…
20
Perfect Day (1929)
★ 7/10
Two families embark on a pleasant Sunday picnic but manage to run into a variety of issues with their temperamental automobile. Each incident requires repeated exits and reboardings by Laurel, Hardy, their wives and…