Māoriland Film Festival 2025 Celebrates Annual Awards And Unprecedented Annual Box Office Growth

Ōtaki, Aotearoa | 31 March 2025

The Māoriland Film Festival (MFF) celebrated the 12th annual festival with the much anticipated Red Carpet Party, where People’s Choice Awards were handed out to recognise audience favourites from this year’s programme.

This year’s winners are:

• Maota - Best Short Documentary: Reimagining our Futures: Birthing (dir. Kimberley Benjamin)
• Rimu - Best Documentary: Standing Above The Clouds (dir. Jalena Keane-Lee)
• Māhuri - Best Short Drama: Papa’s Chair (dir. Briar Pomana)
• Tōtara - Best Drama: Kōkā (dir. Kath Akuhata-Brown)

Festival director Madeleine Hakaraia de Young says, “As we close MFF2025, we’ve seen thousands of visitors travel to Ōtaki to watch and celebrate global Indigenous film and storytelling.

“Our audience and community are what make this festival - and they select our award winners. These films, all directed by women, portray a range of Indigenous experiences.”

Historic Box Office Growth

This year also marked a historic year of growth, with ticket sales doubling annually from 2024 and a 50% increase in audience numbers across the week.

Māoriland operates a choose your own price ticketing system - starting at $8 - and early box office reports show that audiences are choosing to pay more to attend screenings.

This unprecedented expansion highlights the festival’s continued success as the premiere global showcase for Indigenous cinema.

The festival, which takes place in Ōtaki - a town without a cinema - has demonstrated the powerful demand for theatrical experiences, with audiences showing up in record numbers to watch Indigenous films together on the big screen.

Madeleine says this remarkable growth comes amid a challenging economic climate, making this surge in attendance even more significant.

“This year’s festival is proof audiences are hungry for cinema reflecting their stories and experiences. The success of Tinā, which has just today surpassed $4 million at the New Zealand box office, which further affirms Indigenous cinema is resonating deeply with audiences,” said de Young.

MFF2025 has attracted over 260 film industry representatives to Ōtaki, with guests traveling from as far as Greenland, Sápmi, Canada, the United States, Hawai‘i, Australia, Sakha, and across the Pacific.

This influx of filmmakers, producers, and industry leaders solidifies Māoriland’s reputation as a key gathering place for Indigenous cinema worldwide.

As Māoriland Film Festival continues to grow, its mission remains the same: to uplift Indigenous stories and create a space where Indigenous cinema thrives.

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