Pioneering filmmaker Barry Barclay dies 

Pioneering New Zealand filmmaker Barry Barclay has died of a heart attack at the age of 63.

Barclay was the first Maori to direct a feature film, the 1987 award-winning movie Ngati.

He was of Ngati Apa descent and was made a Member of the Order of New Zealand in last year's Queen's Birthday Honours.

The New Zealand Film Commission says Barclay played a major role as a passionate advocate of indigenous voices telling their own stories.

The Maori Party has paid tribute to Barclay calling him a leading light in the world of indigenous filmmaking.

"Barry was a pioneer in New Zealand film and television, whose intense and detailed observations brought new insights to his audiences," says party co-leader Dr Pita Sharples. "Barry gave voice to the voiceless, and helped people tell their own stories."

Barclay's body of work includes the Tangata Whenua TV series, that he worked on with John O'Shea and Michael King and Feathers of Peace, the first dramatised documentary largely in the Moriori language

Speaking about the Tangata Whenua series Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Judith Tizard, says Barclay broke accepted rules about television formats and film production.

"He constantly sought new ways of expressing the reality of the way New Zealanders - especially Maori - live their lives. He leaves behind a precious legacy of original work." 

Tizard says Barclay's death is a huge loss to the New Zealand film industry and Maoridom.