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Highlight for Week 3, 2008 - Jan 14th to 20th

NATIVE AFFAIRS: SUMMER SERIES (CURRENT AFFAIRS) - Monday, Jan 14th at 8:30p.m.
Maori Television’s current affairs series – a finalist at the Qantas Television Awards – presents the highlights of 2007. Tonight: The Pacific Island Forum in Tonga; Shane Jones and Aroha Mead debate the Government’s vote against the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and NIWA collects traditional Maori knowledge on weather forecasting.

ITI POUNAMU (NZ SHORT FILMS) - Monday, Jan 14th at 9:30p.m.
Kimi and the Watermelon: The late Don Selwyn co-directed this delightful story about a little girl, her grandmother, her uncle and a very special watermelon. Hosted by Ainsley Gardiner and Tearepa Kahi with studio guest, renowned Maori filmmaker, writer and director Merata Mita.

WARRANT OF FITNESS (HEALTH) - Tuesday, Jan 15th at 8p.m.
Thoughtful and creative with a wicked sense of humour, Arama Ellis (Ngaiterangi) is an artist, carver, writer of children’s stories – and a diagnosed schizophrenic. He and his whanau speak candidly about living with this often misunderstood condition.

VIVA LE PEPA! (INTERNATIONAL DOCO) - Tuesday, Jan 15th at 8:30p.m.
Explores Argentina’s slow climb back to economic and political stability and looks at how the populace now view their politicians. The causes of the fiscal disasters and political scandals that erupted in 2001 are also dissected. 

TAKU WAHINE PUROTU - Wednesday, Jan 16th at 8p.m.
Kuramihirangi: This meeting house in Ruatoki in the eastern Bay of Plenty is named after a beautiful medicine woman who collected herbs and nectars to heal her tribe. Her descendants speak of this incredible healer and the issues confronting the iwi.

IHI FRENZY (NZ DOCO - Wednesday, Jan 16th at 8:30p.m.
Go Kiwi! Ihi FrENZy sees the Royal New Zealand Ballet join forces with Te Matarae i o Rehu, a 40-strong Maori performance group from Rotorua. Add to the mix music by Split Enz and you've got a showcase for the best of New Zealand's artistic treasures.

BASSLINE (NZ MUSIC) - Friday, Jan 18th at 8:30p.m.
Olmecha Supreme: Hailing from Wellington, this act truly reflects the diverse nature of the local music scene. Captained by Imon Starr – formerly of Rhombus and Nuvonesia who has now moved on to form his own group with an original genre of music that he labels ‘Afro Futuristic Roots’.

NATIONAL TOUCH SERIES - Sunday, Jan 20th at 3p.m.
The final of a three-part sports special featuring exclusive coverage of the recent mixed touch nationals held in Upper Hutt – an annual tournament for New Zealand’s largest team sport.  

TE HAUKAINGA - Sunday, Jan 20th at 5p.m.
TE HAUKAINGA – Sunday January 20 at 5.00 PMRuatoki: The Tuhoe Education Authority holds a language forum at Mahurehure Marae, and Tamati Kruger and Te Hue Rangi speak about conversational language, the language of the marae and the language of the tohunga. Sadly Te Hue Rangi has since passed away.

BEST OF HOMAI TE PAKIPAKI - Sunday, Jan 20th at 8p.m.
One of the cult classics of the 2007 schedule returns in this ‘best of’ series reliving the characters and charm of Maori Television’s popular karaoke show. Wannabe singing stars are given another chance to shine.

NGA AHUREI O TE RAUMATI - Sunday, Jan 20th at 8:30p.m.
New! Experience New Zealand’s summer festivals in this six-part series. Tonight: Two festivals in one night – the frenzied New Year’s party atmosphere of Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne contrasts with the whanau vibe of the Ru Uawa reo Maori festival held further up the coast at Tolaga Bay.

THE TRACKER (SUNDAY FEATURE) - Sunday, Jan 20th at 9p.m.
A thrilling Australian twist on the Western genre, following a search party whose inner tensions between whites and natives overshadow the hunt for their desert quarry. In the Australian outback in 1922, four men relentlessly track an Aboriginal fugitive accused of murder.

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