'' CHIEF OF WAR '' : NZ'S TV-SERIES HONOURS REVIEW

WIDE ANGLE : A HAWAIIAN EPIC made in New Zealand. And Jason Momoa's Chief of War isn't filmed in its star's homeland.

Jason Momoa's historical epic Chief of War, launched Aug 1 on Apple TV+, is a triumph of Hawaiians telling their own stories - despite the fact their film and TV production industry now struggles to be viable.

The series stars Momoa [ Aquaman, Game of Thrones ] as Ka'aina, an ali'i [chief] who fights for - and later rises against - King Kamehameha I during the bloody reunification of Hawaii.

Already receiving advance praise, the nine-episode first season costars New Zealand actors Temuera Morrison, Cliff Curtis and Luciane Buchanan, alongside Hawaiian actors Kaina Makua, Brandon Finn and Moses Goods.

A passion project for Momoa, the Hawaiian star co-created the series with writer Thomas Pa'a Sibbett after years in development.

With a reported budget of US$340 million, it is one of the most expensive television series ever produced.

It is also a milestone in Kanaka Maoli [ Native Hawaiian ] representation on screen.

Controversially, however, the production only spent a month in Hawaii, and was mostly shot in New  Zealand with non-Hawaiian crews.

Momoa has even expressed an interest in New Zealand citizenship, but the choice of location is more a reflection of the troubled state of the film industry in Hawaii.

On the other hand, it is a measure of the success of the New Zealand screen industry, with potential lessons for other countries in the Pacific.

The World Students Society thanks Duncan Calillard, a Postdoctoral Research fellow at the School of Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.