More National Treasures – NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho co-fund champions te reo Māori content

Irirangi Te Motu NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho’s fourth co-funding round has awarded 12 bilingual projects up to $5.9m to further champion the use of te reo Māori across a wide variety of platforms.

Returning to TVNZ 1 for a second season, National Treasures 2 will discover more stories from New Zealand’s collective history through objects, keepsakes and taonga from the past 100 years.

The trials and tribulations of Aotearoa’s most beloved funeral directors will be documented in season six of Casketeers, set to broadcast on TVNZ 1.

A one-off special event for TVNZ 2 and TVNZ OnDemand, Impossible: Stan Walker will see acclaimed artist Stan Walker weave kōrero and waiata in front of a small live studio audience, as he reflects on pivotal moments in his life in honour and celebration of Matariki.

Over on Three, Joe Daymond looks to set the record straight in new series Get The Name Right – which follows the comedian as he travels across the motu, illuminating the good, the bad and the ugly behind place names in Aotearoa, and settling a few debates along the way.

Also for Three, one-off documentary Kia Ora, Good Evening, will capture newsreader Mike McRoberts’ journey to reclaim what was lost to his whānau a generation ago: te reo Māori.

From the creators of Chatham Islanders, Māori Television documentary series Auraki will tell the intimate stories of people connecting with their Māori whakapapa and whenua.

Two documentary series exploring solutions to the climate crisis are also set to premiere on Māori Television. Hua Parakore will visit whānau on the whenua to learn about how and why our current industrialised food system is broken, and the role Māori food and soil sovereignty has in creating meaningful solutions to the climate crisis. 1.5 Degrees – A Global Warning will highlight the diverse ways rangatahi are challenging power relationships and political interests to promote climate-resilient futures.

Premiering on RNZ’s TAHI and production company Fire Fire’s popular FlameNZ social media channels, mini-documentary series Imposter will examine how Māori artists deal with imposter syndrome, while high-octane adventure sports series No Limits will delve into the psyche of fearless Māori athletes who just want to do one thing – go fast.

Also for TAHI, The All Goods Race will see Aotearoa social media stars Torrell Tafa and Terewai Kopua face off in a race across the North Island where each is only allowed to rely on the kindness of their fellow Kiwis to get to the other side.

A fluent te reo series Haka Life, Te Matatini 2023 is an observational web series that will take a behind scenes look at the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of the defending Te Matatini champions, Ngā Tūmanako as they go for back-to-back wins at the 2023 event.

“NZ On Air is thankful that our partnership with Te Māngai Pāho continues to produce such innovative and entertaining bilingual content that normalises the use of te reo Māori across a wide variety of media platforms,” said Irirangi Te Motu Chief Executive Cameron Harland.

“Whether New Zealanders engage with these projects on linear TV or through their social feeds, it’s heartening to know that high-quality content that deepens our understanding of te ao Māori is widely available for diverse Aotearoa audiences,” he continued.

“We are pleased to see a number of quality, diverse and bilingual projects succeed in this co-fund round. It represents an opportunity to share Māori stories and perspectives with a range of audiences in the hope that it will encourage and support all New Zealanders to speak te reo Māori,” said Kaihautū of Te Māngai Pāho, Larry Parr.

“Te Māngai Pāho is grateful for this collaboration with NZ On Air to fund content that has the potential to connect the world with te ao Māori,” he added.

Funding details

National Treasures 2, 4 x 44 mins, Pango Productions for TVNZ 1 and TVNZ OnDemand, up to $1,218,856.

Get The Name Right, 6 x 22 mins, Pango Productions for ThreeNow and Three, up to $693,374.

Hua Parakore, 8 x 26 mins, Storybox for Māori Television, up to $614,594.

Casketeers 6, 8 x 23 mins, Great Southern Television for TVNZ 1, up to $598,903.

1.5 Degrees – A Global Warning, 8 x 25 mins, Fautline Films for Māori Television, up to $588,276.

Auraki, 8 x 26 mins, Black Iris for Māori Television, up to $587,122.

Impossible: Stan Walker, 1 x 44 mins, Kura Productions for TVNZ 2 and TVNZ OnDemand, up to $367,746.

Kia ora, Good Evening, 1 x 44 mins, Great Southern Television for Three, up to $231,879.

Haka Life Te Matatini 2023, 10 x 10 mins, Mako Media for (platform TBC), up to $408,218.

No Limits, 6 x 10 mins, Fire Fire for RNZ platforms and Fire Fire’s social media platform FlameNZ, up to $195,000.

Imposter, 5 x 10 mins, Fire Fire for RNZ platforms and Fire Fire’s social media platform FlameNZ, up to $175,000.

The All Goods Race, 8 x 10 mins, Westpark for RNZ TAHI, up to $151,936.

The total funding will be split 50/50 between Te Māngai Pāho and NZ On Air.