"Maori Battalion march to victory
Maori Battalion staunch and true - "

In celebration of the year of the Veteran the Film Archive honours the achievement and sacrifice of the Maori Battalion with the specially created March to Victory screening.
The programme premiered at the 28th Maori Battalion Reunion in Omapere, Hokianga over Easter and has returned to Wellington for three showings only on the 27, 28 and 29 April.
"Maori Battalion march to victory
Maori Battalion staunch and true - "

In celebration of the year of the Veteran the Film Archive honours the achievement and sacrifice of the Maori Battalion with the specially created March to Victory screening.
The programme premiered at the 28th Maori Battalion Reunion in Omapere, Hokianga over Easter and has returned to Wellington for three showings only on the 27, 28 and 29 April.
The 28th Maori Battalion was part of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force during World War II and was formed as a result of pressure on the Labour government by the Maori MPs and groups throughout the country. The Battalion, followed in the footsteps of Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu, the Pioneer (M?ori) Battalion of WWI, and Companies were organised on a tribal basis.

The Battalion were initially sent to Britain, where the German threat was at its peak, later they sailed from England, around South Africa, to Egypt, and Greece, going into action in Greece for the first time on April 15th 1941.
Remarkably and despite a terrible casualty rate of five in seven, the Battalion remained voluntary throughout the war.

The March to Victory screening features scenes from the welcome home to the Maori Pioneer Battalion (Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu) and the powhiri held in Auckland Domain, filmed in 1918 and rarely seen.
As well as Maori Battalion Returns, shot by the National Film National Film Unit at the conclusion of the war and featuring the arrival of the Dominion Monarch at Pipitea wharf. This film makes a moving centrepiece for the prgramme and will be accompanied by much more fascinating archival.footage
March to Victory will conclude with a screening of the short film Tama Tu (2004) directed by Oscar Nominee Taika Waititi.

The Film Archive are pleased to offer you a block booking price (10 or more people) of only $6

For further information and to book tickets please contact

Nga Kaitiaki O Nga Taonga Whitiahua
The New Zealand Film Archive
PO Box 11449 Wellington
Aotearoa, New Zealand
ph +64 4 384 7647
fax +64 4 382 9595
www.filmarchive.org.nz