Popular documentaries

A collection of the most essential RNZ Documentaries.

Popular documentaries series and films

  • In a black-and-white photograph, a Māori woman speaks into a microphone in front of a crowd. Her fist is raised defiantly in the air. below the woman, at the bottom of the image, the text reads in yellow lettering: "THE HAKA PARTY INCIDENT."

    The Haka Party Incident

    Award-winning
    The last New Zealand war took place in 1979. It lasted three minutes.
    Film
    1h 28m
  • A group of Pasifika women pose for a picture. Below them the text reads: "Myths & Maidens."

    Myths & Maidens

    Some of the trauma, challenges, & inequities of fafine Moana across Pasifika.
    Film
    56m
  • A sepia toned image of a family photograph depicting a woman holding the hands of two young children. The photo is deteriorating and the child on the left is almost obscured by the damage. The text reads, "Farewell Guangdong" there are also four Chinese characters, or 'Hanzi', above the text.

    Farewell Guangdong

    An intergenerational celebration of women from our Chinese NZ community.
    7 episodes
    22m
  • A black-and-white image of a smiling Joy Cowley sitting on a swing. Large text in the background of the image reads: "Joy Full & Fearless."

    Joy, Full & Fearless

    The trauma & triumph of celebrated author Joy Cowley's astonishing life.
    Film
    56m
  • In India, a group of people walk down a path in front of a historic building. Above the building in orange reads: "1984"

    1984

    Survivors of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India seek asylum in Aotearoa.
    Film
    1h 4m
  • A man sits silhouetted on some steps leading down to the water in a cave. He glances out over the incoming waves. Yellow text reads: "BEING Niuean. 50 YEARS OF PULE FAKAMOTU."

    Being Niuean

    Nominated
    50 years of self-governance on the Rock.
    Film
    44m
  • The right and left of the image are battle scenes from the first two seasons of the series Stolen Lands. The gold text in the middle reads: "STOLEN LANDS."

    Stolen Lands

    A Highlander’s journey to Aotearoa meets a legacy of land & loss.
    2 seasons/10 episodes
    29m
  • Framed by a purple fabric design is a plus-size model in a green dress. In front of her, in black-on-white text, reads: "CUTTING THE CURVE."

    Cutting the Curve

    Among diet drugs & shrinking ideals, curve & plus-size women fight to be seen.
    6 episodes
    10m
  • An archival picture of a group of Pacific Islanders posing for a group picture. The text reads "Untold Pacific History"

    Untold Pacific History

    A dynamic and often provocative account of NZ's relationship with the Pacific.
    2 seasons/8 episodes
    14m
  • A man wearing sunglasses and a tartan hat is looking out to the left. Text reads, "Our Other Islands".

    Our Other Islands

    Troy Kingi embarks on a journey to explore the "other" islands of Aotearoa.
    6 episodes
    26m
  • A birds'-eye view of some military items sitting scattered on a desk, including a map, a hat, playing cards, some photographs, and a couple of coins. The text in the middle reads "Back to Timor."

    Back to Timor

    Kiwi military vets return to East Timor 25 years after serving as peacekeepers.
    Film
    43m

More to watch

If you are interested in Popular documentaries you might also want to check out some of our other series and films.

  • Tamariki6

    Series for children, featuring some very well-known New Zealanders.

    Michal Bush, in all pink, plays a guitar in her music room. The text above reads: "Music with Michal."
    A yellow graphic with two blue penguins dancing. Below them is the text: "Bigsies and Littles."
    In an animated graphic, the top of a man's face is seen in front of fence, above which are a collection of native New Zealand birds. In the middle of the image, in the middle of the birds, is the text: "BIRD'S EYE VIEW 2."

  • Hidden gems10

    A collection of some of the best bits you might have missed on RNZ Video.

    One young woman sits on another who is in a wheelchair in a zany candid moment. Text reads "This is Wheel Life with Soph and Indy"
    Whitney Steel & Nathan Taare sit at a table and smell samples of a perfume. White text below them reads: "JOURNEY OF SCENT."
    Eight seperate images edited into two rows of four, each showing different images of people and art. Text reads, "Marauders".

  • Comedy12

    Docos and drama with a healthy dose of humour.

    A man looking into the camera with his mouth slightly open. His left eye is bugged out in a comically over the top way. Text reads, "A Place Called Te Awamutu".
    Piripi is wearing a shirt and a cap and looks into the camera smiling. He is leaning against the side of a vehicle. Text reads, "Oe, The Adventures of of Piripi Kaiwaru AKA Phillip! Narrated by his Mother" There is a small illustration of a truck under the text, as well as illustrations of deer horns and a kangaroo.
    Against a yellow-and-orange background, the cyan-coloured text reads: "the All Goods Race."

  • New in 202533

    New series and films as well as the latest from our ongoing shows.

    Michal Bush, in all pink, plays a guitar in her music room. The text above reads: "Music with Michal."
    A yellow graphic with two blue penguins dancing. Below them is the text: "Bigsies and Littles."
    A group of supporters folding the Māori flag. The text at the bottom reads: "MATA REPORTS TE PĀTI MĀORI"
Eight seperate images edited into two rows of four, each showing different images of people and art. Text reads, "Marauders".
Black and white faces of Helen Clark, Dame Jenny Shipley, Jim Bolger Geoffrey Palmer and Mike Moore, with the words 'The 9th Floor' underneath them. The background of the image is black.
Against a black background, a group of opera singers sing. The green text reads: "Toiere."
A man is wearing a suit and tie and smiling at the camera with his head slightly tilted to the left. He has a thick moustache, behind him the room is dark but seems to be an office. Text reads, "The Citizen's Handbook" in light pink.
A person sitting on a hill looking out onto an inlet. The image is take from behind the person. Text reads, "Inside Outside". There is an overlay of a recording boarder along the perimeter of the image.
A person sitting on a stool, they're looking down. The image has been edited so that there's a strong orange toned light covering the image, obscuring the figures face. The text reads, "The Outliers".
Bob Lowry, wearing an eyepatch, crown, and shirt with the words "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is King," holds a finger in the air. The graphic is white and teal with a title to the left of him and curving below which reads: "I Am a Dark River"
A birds'-eye view of some military items sitting scattered on a desk, including a map, a hat, playing cards, and a couple of coins. The text in the middle reads "Back to Timor."
Guyon Espiner on a black background, looking at camera with logo behind him
Troy Kingi wearing a traditional red poncho sits in the rocky Californian desert beneath a light blue sky. The text reads "Troy Kingi's Desert Hīkoi"
In the middle of the image, the white text on blue reads: "RUAMATA IT'S MORE THAN HOCKEY 1 + 2" Above the text is an image of students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata doing a haka. Below the text is an image of students from the school standing in a formation with their coach, looking directly ahead.
A blue graphic with a collection of drawings of items including a flag, a guitar, a dog, and skiis. The yellow text reads: "SIGHT UNSEEN."
6 people are seated around a long table, four of them are wearing hi-vis tops. On the table there are little traffic cones and signs. There are two flags hanging on the wall behind them, the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the Maori flag. Orange text reads, "Hi-Vis".
A two dimensional Illustration of a screen showing DNA shapes in front a conveyor belt with kākāpō on it. Text reads, "What if...? Genomics in Aotearoa".
A wide long beach withe dark grey sand and blue ocean. Text reads, "Chatham Islanders, Tchakat Tchatam Airani". There is an illustration of an indigenous Moriori tree carving in between the words "Chatham" and "Islanders".
A half light purple and half yellow background with host, Josh Thomson, in the centre. Behind him are black and white images of six historical figures from various time periods. They have been superimposed so that they appear in a staggered star burst sort of pattern. Yellow text reads, "My Favourite Dead Person".
A vertical poster showing three young men sitting in front of a dark wall, with the title 'Rū ANA TE WHENUA: Alien Weaponry Shake Europe' displayed.
A sharp yellow pencil is placed in the center of a tile with a light grey background. The title 'Recovering' is above the pencil, with an underscore after 'Re'.
A yellow graphic with two blue penguins dancing. Below them is the text: "Bigsies and Littles."
The side profile of a man holding a guitar with a microphone on a stand in front of him. Text reads, "Legacy: Katchafire" and has a boarder around the perimeter of the frame.
A group of penguins walk in a line along the Antarctic ice. At the top of the image, the text reads: "ANTARCTICA IN A WARMING WORLD."
Text reads, "Matangireia with Morgan Godfery". Background is beige with an out of focus letter M in fancy script.
A school of fish swim together in the ocean. The text reads "Turning the Tide"
The silhouette of a man against a sun either rising or setting, the sky is mostly green with a thin bank of orange light along the horizon. Text reads, "Meng".