In black suit and hat, the US-based French film-maker Gaston Méliès sits among the cast of his 1913 films Loved by a Maori chieftess, Hinemoaand How chief Te Ponga won his bride.His actors were members of a cultural group led by Māori missioner Frederick Bennett. Méliès found they performed better than many professional actors. They are shown here in front of the meeting house Hatupatu at Whakarewarewa, Rotorua, in 1912. None of the films made by Méliès in New Zealand appear to have survived.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
New Zealand Film Archive Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua, Stills Collection
Reference: S5962 2011.12806
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