While Hunt for the Wilderpeople does not address Maori identity head-on per se, it features a number of Maori characters and Taika Waititi, the director, is of part-Maori descent. Furthermore, the themes of the film, the characters' connection with the wilderness and the bush, as well as their rejection of society all indirectly raise the ideas of indigeneity and Maori identity. In the history of New Zealand cinema, many other films have sought to look at the significance of Maori culture within New Zealand.
Many New Zealand films have focused on characters of Maori descent and plots about Maori communities. Ngati, from 1987, looks at a Maori community in New Zealand and was the first feature film written and directed by a Maori director. Utu, from 1984, directed by Geoff Murphy, looks at a Maori rebellion against British colonialism in the 1870s. Whale Rider, a 2002 film directed by Niki Caro, tells the story of a young girl who comes to terms with her culture, and the film achieved international success at the time of its release. Once Were Warriors from 1994 looks at Maori life in modern times, the domestic and gang violence that occurs in the wake of colonial rule.
In an article about Maori cinema for The Guardian, David Fickling considered the reasons why there are not more Maori films in circulation, writing, "One paradoxical barrier separating Maori films from the mainstream has always been the strength of Maori culture itself. Barry Barclay's experimental films owe more to Polynesian storytelling traditions than to the plot-based imperatives of conventional cinema, a factor that naturally limits their appeal to mainstream audiences. There is even a passionate debate about whether Maori writers should be writing in English at all, despite the fact it is overwhelmingly the first language of contemporary Maori."
