It is doubtful whether the film was ever screened in New ’Zealand.[citation needed]
Plot
No known copy of Hinemoa survives, but the film would have told the story of the legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai.
Background
In 1912, the Méliès brothers' company Star Film was in some financial strife, as a result of which Gaston Méliès travelled to the South Pacific in search of fashionably exotic locales, people and stories.[3]
Hinemoa was one of five two-reel films screened in New York City in 1913; probably including three other 1913 films he shot in New Zealand, Loved by a Maori Chieftess, How Chief Te Ponga Won His Bride and The River Wanganui. As with the three other films, Méliès sent Hinemoa to the United States for post-production treatment, so it is doubtful if any were shown in New Zealand. Several other films shot by Méliès on the expedition failed to survive the tropical humidity.
See also
Hinemoa – New Zealand produced and released film by George Tarr a year later.
^"People of the Day: Maori Legend and Pictures". The Daily Telegraph. No. 14, 771. Sydney, Australia. 13 April 1927. p. 8. Retrieved 17 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia., ...Maata Hurihancanui, the Maori dancer, is playing the title role In "Hinemoa... The Premier of New Zealand (Sir. Coates),' who saw the picture while in England...
