Don Rowe for The Spinoff

The acclaimed Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the main attraction on a new line of Instant Kiwi scratchie cards, raising concerns among actors, artists and anti-gambling activists.

A line of Instant Kiwi scratchie cards featuring popular New Zealand movies has left those involved in the films upset their work is being used to promote gambling.

The scratchies, released to mark the 40th anniversary of the New Zealand Film Commission, include images from The World's Fastest Indian, Whale Rider and Hunt for the Wilderpeople - the latter of which were headlined by pre-teen Māori actors Julian Dennison and Keisha Castle-Hughes.

Rima Te Wiata, who played Dennison's Aunt Bella in Hunt for the Wilderpeople, said using children to sell scratchies was contrary to harm reduction laws and gambling age restrictions.

"It seems baffling hypocrisy when the legal age of purchase is 18, and it is also illegal to purchase on behalf of somebody under the age of 18, that they're able to proliferate imagery featuring children well under the age of 18 in an effort to popularise the sale of Lotto scratchies."