Before a short hairy man made three films based on a famous series of books about short hairy men there was a very small New Zealand film industry, populated by creative folk wanting to make it big and occasionally doing just that. Four of the films from that period were so interesting that New Zealand Post decided to make stamps about them, with the cost of the stamp reflecting artistic merit:

• 40c Hinemoa, the first feature film made in New Zealand. Produced in 1914 by George Tarr, it premiered in Auckland. Unfortunately there are no known surviving prints.
• 80c Broken Barrier. Considered controversial in 1952 when it was produced, this film depicted a romance between a white journalist and a Maori woman.
• $1.50 Goodbye Pork Pie, a zany, action-packed movie, was an enormous local hit when released in 1981.
• $1.80 Once Were Warriors, is a powerful, violent and gripping drama. Released in 1994, it proved to be the biggest success to that date in the box office in terms of New Zealand-made films.,