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A DVD on the Treaty of Waitangi aimed at secondary school students will be released in Wellington today.
The Treaty: Te Tiriti o Waitangi, includes 1930s newsreels, early silent film and television material collected over several years.
It presents a historical background and view of the Treaty, including an analysis of the language used and its effect on history.
The three-disk DVD to be released at the New Zealand Film Archive adds to the archive's 40-title On Disk library, which offers a collection of moving-image resources to secondary schools throughout the country andto anyone who wants to view them.
Education programmes manager Alex Burton says detailed and important information on the Treaty researched while making The Treaty: Te Tiriti o Waitangi, enables students to get a better understanding of the many perceptions people have had of the document.
"The idea is to make it both informed and enjoyable and, asthe new curriculum says, make what we study a part of our lifelong learning.
"It doesn't stipulate what viewpoint you should take, but it does provide the source evidence of the different perceptions people have had regarding this important and contentious document."