A Northland-made waka is the star of a documentary due to premiere at a festival of world cinema this month.
The 18-man waka taua Te Hono ki Aotearoa (the Link to New Zealand) was made by Far North waka master Hekenukumai (Hec) Busby at Aurere in Doubtless Bay in 2010, for the Volkenkunde Museum in the Dutch city of Leiden.
The fully carved ceremonial waka was the 27th built by Mr Busby, but his first to be based permanently in Europe.
It remains the property of arts organisation Toi Maori and was paddled down the Thames at the City of London Festival last year, but is kept in a purpose-built whare in the grounds of the Dutch national ethnology museum.
The handover to Dutch paddlers on a city canal was a spectacle watched by thousands.
The waka's commissioning and delivery was documented by film-maker Jan Bieringa, with the result due to premiere at the opening weekend of the World Cinema Showcase in Auckland.
Showcase director Bill Gosden said the sight of a waka taua being propelled through European waters would stir the heart of any New Zealander.
"What's so fascinating here is Jan's insights into the way it stirs European hearts too. The rapport between master carver Hekenukumai Busby and the museum's director is the starting point for a gratifyingly thorough immersion in kaupapa waka," Mr Gosden said.
This year's World Cinema Showcase features 36 films from 30 countries, headlined by Te Hono ki Aotearoa and another Kiwi documentary, Mental Notes, which follows the experiences of five former patients in psychiatric institutions of the past.
The showcase runs from March 29 to April 11 at Rialto Cinemas in Newmarket and Bridgeway, Auckland, before heading to Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch.
There are no plans to show Te Hono ki Aotearoa in Northland.