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Hero image for Rotorua Lookabout

Rotorua Lookabout

Short Film (Full Length) – 1969

This 1969 film promotes the attractions, industry and history of “contemporary Rotorua”, from the Arawa canoe to forestry, from mud pool hangi to the Ward baths (“heavenly for hangovers”). The score is jazz, and the narration is flavoured by the impressive baritone of opera singer Inia Te Wiata (father of actress Rima), who gushes about geysers and Rotorua’s evolution from sleepy tourist backwater to modern city and conference centre. Also featured: kapa haka, meter maids in traditional Māori dress, and a rendition of classic song ‘Me He Manu Rere’ in a meeting house jive.

As for the present, the ancestral meeting house trembles under the impact of a modified traditional song.
– Narrator Inia Te Wiata on a jazzed up performance of the classic song, 'Me He Manu Rere'