Barry Barclay

Barry Ronald Barclay, MNZM (12 May 1944 – 19 February 2008) was a New Zealand filmmaker and writer of Māori (Ngāti Apa, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Hauiti ) and Pākehā (European) descent.

Background Barclay was born in Masterton and raised on farms in the Wairarapa. He was educated at St Joseph's College, Masterton. He spent six years from the age of 15 in Redemptorist monasteries in Australia and carried out part of the training to be a Catholic priest in that order

After this success, Barclay left New Zealand for a time to live in Europe. He returned to make The Neglected Miracle, a documentary on the legal and societal challenges presented by assertions of ownership of genetic material, especially seed stocks, and an eponymous documentary on Indira Gandhi, then-Prime Minister of India. After these documentary projects, Barclay collaborated with screenwriter Tama Poata on the feature film, Ngati (1987), produced by John O'Shea. Ngati featured veteran Maori actor Wi Kuki Kaa in the lead role of 'Iwi.' The film was well received at several international film festivals, and attracted critical acclaim.

Barry's second feature film Te Rua (Pacific Films 1991), concerns an iwi's attempts to repatriate stolen carvings from a German museum back to their rightful place in Aotearoa. Te Rua was a German/New Zealand coproduction, and is acknowledged as a more complex and less successful film than Ngati. as well as The Kaipara Affair, on the wide-ranging implications of dwindling fish populations and the effects from development in the Kaipara harbour.

His first book was Our Own Image (1990), about his film-making practices and the creation of Indigenous cinema. His second book, Mana Tuturu: Maori treasures and intellectual property rights (2005), makes proposals about Indigenous intellectual property rights. In 2025, Mana Tuturu was identified as one of the 180 most significant works of non-fiction.

Recognition and Laureate Award In 2004, Barclay received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award.

In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, Barclay was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film.

After his death, Barclay's body was returned to Whangaehu Marae near Whanganui on Wednesday, 20 February 2008. His tangi (funeral) was held on Saturday, 23 February 2008.

Documentary on Barclay (2009) A documentary on Barclay's life and work, Barry Barclay: The Camera on The Shore, (duration 102 minutes) directed by Graeme Tuckett and produced by Anne Keating, was completed in February 2009. It screened at international film festivals, and on Māori Television Service in 2009 and 2012.

Filmography As Director: The Kaipara Affair (2005) The Feathers of Peace (2000) Te Rua (1991) Ngati (1987) The Neglected Miracle (1985) Aku Mahi Whatu Maori (My Art of Maori Weaving) (1977) Ashes (1973) Autumn Fires (1975) TV Hunting Horns (1975) TV Indira Gandhi (1975) TV Tangata Whenua (1974) TV Series The Town That Lost a Miracle (1972) TV

As Writer: The Feathers of Peace (2000) (screenplay) Te Rua (1991) Aku Mahi Whatu Maori (My Art of Maori Weaving) (1977)

Books Our Own Image (1990, Longman Paul, Auckland) Mana Tuturu: Māori treasures and intellectual property rights (2005, Auckland University Press)