One of New Zealand's first feature films, Rewi's Last Stand, is first in line for a $2 million restoration project at the National Film Archive.
Chief executive Frank Stark says extra funding announced this week will allow the archive to restore or digitise as many as 2500 films and newsreels over the next four years.
Rewi's Last Stand was produced by Rudall Hayward and starred his future wife, Ramai te Miha. Waatea News reports it is the last unpreserved New Zealand feature shot on nitrate film.
It includes a re-creation of the 1864 battle of Orakau. Mr Stark said the real battlefield was used for the location.
