New Māori-Led Kids Series Explores Identity From Above
Fly My Pepeha is bringing together te reo Māori, drone technology, and tamariki-led storytelling in a fresh, innovative format.
Produced by Rotorua-based Natives On Screen, the 10-part, 10-minute digital series features different tamariki in each episode, sharing stories of their whānau, iwi, marae, maunga, awa, and rohe.
Fly My Pepeha is the first of its kind globally to use FPV (First Person View) drone technology in a children's show. It is spoken entirely in te reo Māori, with English subtitles.
The series is also being translated into Mandarin and Spanish, opening up educational and cultural connection opportunities for reo Māori-speaking rangatahi.
Natives On Screen Producer, Lilly Jordan, says the series is a bold step forward in combining indigenous storytelling with cutting-edge technology.
'We're pushing the boundaries of what kids' content can look like, not just in Aotearoa but worldwide.
'Giving tamariki the space to lead, speak in their own reo, and be seen from their perspective, is a powerful shift in how we reflect their lives on-screen.'
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
Jordan says it is the first time drone technology and pepeha have been used in this way to help tamariki share their stories with viewers.
'Visually speaking, it's an exciting and accessible format, but more significantly, it is deeply rooted in who we are and our whakapapa.'
Shot across locations including Rotorua, Taupō, Tauranga Moana, Ōpape, Rotoiti, Morrinsville, and Te Tairāwhiti, the use of FPV drones helps capture the landscape from a tamariki perspective, bringing a unique sense of immersion to each episode.
Behind the scenes, the production was led by a Māori creative team and developed in close collaboration with local communities.
Jordan says tamariki were involved throughout the process, from voiceovers to on-ground filming, making the series a genuine reflection of their experiences, thoughts, and outlook.
'We wanted to make something that felt empowering for our kids. They're not just on screen, they're the ones who are shaping the story. It's their pepeha, their whenua, their voice.'
Fly My Pepeha premieres this Sunday, 21 July on the Māori+ app, and will screen weekly on Whakaata Māori every Monday at 7.50am.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
8 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Book of the day: Reacher: The Stories Behind the Stories
Tom Cruise: His Reacher movies paid for author Lee Child's English country house. Photo / Supplied New Zealand is, as Lee Child says, 'the world capital of Reacher madness'. Per capita we buy more Jack Reacher novels than anywhere else. As Child said in one TV interview, New Zealanders probably like his giant vigilante hero because he's a bit like the archetypal Kiwi: 'quiet, undemonstrative, not
Newsroom
8 hours ago
- Newsroom
The Dr Timoti effect
There is something special going on with The Unlikely Doctor, the new book by Dr Timoti Te Moke which has stunned the book trade by toppling Jacinda Ardern's memoir from the No 1 spot on the bestseller chart—in only its first week in the shops. The sales surge followed his momentous interview with Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon. It attracted 14,000 likes on RNZ's Facebook and has led to a wave of invitations. The attraction is obvious–Te Moke's inspirational memoir tells of his journey from prison to becoming a doctor—but it also captures or rather interrupts a kind of zeitgeist. The national narrative right now is miserable, racist, broke. The Unlikely Doctor shines a light, holds out hope in these angry, punishing islands. A free copy was up for grabs in the most recent ReadingRoom giveaway contest. Readers were asked why they wanted to read it. I was swamped with entries and a common factor among many was the theme of hope, salvation, the need to come up with something better than the current governance model of boot camps and benefit sanctions. 'I've spent 35 years helping people to read and write,' emailed Leigh Utting. 'For some of those years, I worked in prisons helping men to read and write. It was very difficult to find stories that spoke to them, spoke of them. I now help young apprentices (almost all men) and the lack is the same. If I had this book I could lend it to them, read it with them.' Deb Nation shared a story with parallels to Te Moke's journey. 'I once interviewed a gangland rangatira who earned his brutal leadership skills from the NZ Army. He grew up on the East Coast. His parents booted him out as a kid, and he survived by his brother sneaking him food behind the local dairy. 'Coming south to military training he found a weekend family in the local gang, and soon rose to the top. After endless spells in prison he eventually realised his mana as gang leader wasn't as good as it had been. Systems were changing both inside, and out. He was reaching retirement age. He decided to go straight. 'He got a degree in psychology and started coaching rugby to young gang kids. His aim was to divert them into another way of life. 'I really liked this guy. His patient understanding and empathy for people, was beyond excellent. I'm sure I'd find the same for Dr Timoti.' Reverend Michael Blakely kind of made it all about himself. He wrote, 'Having been in pastoral care ministry in South Auckland in the seventies, I served many struggling families from Māori and Pasifika backgrounds. I loved them and they loved me. As a school, parish and Health Care Chaplain, I got to know hundreds of whānau. I supported them on their journey towards wholeness. For a period, I was also chaplain to a well-known gang. The whakatauki that always governed my life was 'Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.'' Anne–Marie Patterson made it all about Dr Timoti. 'I work as an administrator, based in the Hunter Centre, for the Early Learning in Medicine (ELM) programme at the University of Otago where Timoti completed his 2nd & 3rd Years of his MB ChB degree. 'Timoti was always here in the Hunter sitting at a table studying. He spent hours and hours each day doing this but also was never too busy to sit and chat with others, or give you a smile as you passed by. I knew, as an older student, that he had an interesting past, but did not know the details. 'If I should win this book, it would be passed around the others here in our very special ELM community who knew Timoti, and then it would be placed in our Māori students study room as an inspiration to them.' Almost every entry was about life in Aotearoa, about Aotearoa problems, wanting solutions for the broken societies within Aotearoa. But there was also an epic message from a reader who only gave his name as Abdul. He wrote, 'I was born in Kenya to Somali parents. Growing up in Kenya as a Somali in late eighties and early nineties was not easy. I was struggling with identity as I was not fully seen as Kenyan and on the other hand I was not fully accepted as Somali. 'To make matters worse the government of Kenya introduced a draconian law that targeted people of Somali ethnicity. We were targeted and threaten by the government. My father lost his business. We were subject to deportation to a country that we had no connection with. Somalia at that time was on the verge of a Civil War. 'The Kenyan government introduced what was infamously known as the pink card where people of Somali heritage were subjected to trauma and discrimination using flawed screening process to determine their Kenyaness. 'We were grateful to many human rights lawyers who were speaking up against this injustice. We managed to survive this ordeal even though the trauma is still with us. It is only this year that the Kenyan government abolished one of the draconian policy that came to be known as vetting of IDs. 'I experienced this injustice as a little boy and I saw how advocacy by human rights lawyers can make a difference. 'For many years I had this dream of becoming a lawyer, however life got on the way. Finally at the age of 48, I was admitted as a solicitor and a barrister of the NZ High Court in Auckland realising my long desire and dream. 'It is stories like Dr Timoti that inspire people who did not have the chance to realise their dream. It would be a privilege to have this book. This incredible journey of resilience and hope could inspire me to share my own story in the hope of inspiring many who feel lost and doubt themselves, which is all too familiar to me.' A winner of the giveaway copy of The Unlikely Doctor will be announced in ReadingRoom on Friday. The Unlikely Doctor by Timoti Te Moke (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) is available in bookstores nationwide.
Otago Daily Times
9 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Ball on so children can have a ball
Bulletproof Convertible band members (from left) Paul Southworth, Silas Waring and Alex Ramsay will provide the music for the Dead Rockers Ball at Waitati Hall on Saturday. Photo: Gregor Richardson For more than a decade, the last thing Blueskin Bay children have been having in the playground next to the Waitati library is a ball. Waitati resident Mandy Mayhem said when the library was extended 12 years ago, all the playground equipment was removed, and all that remained in the area were a couple of trees and some berry bushes, making it a very unexciting place to play. "There's no playground — nothing for the children. "It's just crying out for some toddler play equipment." No money was budgeted to replace the playground equipment, so parents in the area are holding a fundraising event on Saturday at 7.30pm — the Waitati Dead Rockers Ball. She said the area had recently undergone maintenance work, including an expanded area with retaining wall and a new fence. So it was now a blank canvas for a few fun and accessible pieces of play equipment. "There will be some ideas and designs for local parents to be inspired by, and they can indicate what they would like to see there. "In the meantime, we are getting started on the fundraising while a community vision for the space is created." She said the Dead Rockers Ball would include prizes for the best-dressed dancer, raffles, plants and hampers to win, as well as a mystery bottle auction. Dunedin-based three-piece swamp rock band Bulletproof Convertible would provide '50s-influenced and "danceable as hell" music for the ball.
