Director Taika Waititi has unveiled the first peek of his new film Jojo Rabbit, in which he plays an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler.

Photo: Screenshot / YouTube

The New Zealand filmmaker, whose credits include Thor: Ragnarock and Hunt For The Wilderpeople, shared the teaser trailer for the upcoming movie on his Instagram page while poking fun at himself for the use of the word "visionistical" in the clip.

"'Visionary' is so overused to describe directors these days, I decided to make up my own term. 'Visionistical'. Only a truly visionistical director would take the time to make up their own word to describe themselves! #humility," he wrote.

Waititi also goes on to describe the film as "anti-hate satire".

Watch the teaser trailer for Jojo Rabbit:

Written and directed by Waititi, the film is set during World War II and tells the story of a lonely German boy who is an unashamed follower of Hitler Youth. Things get flipped on their head when discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic.

In the movie Waititi also takes the role of the boy's imaginary friend, an "idiotic" version of Adolf Hitler.

Speaking to Deadline earlier this year, Waititi said he hadn't done any research in order to play the historical figure - as his version wasn't based in reality.

"I just made him a version of myself that happened to have a bad haircut and a sh*tty little moustache. And a mediocre German accent," he said.

Jojo Rabbit also stars Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen and Roman Griffen Davis.

It opens in theatres in New Zealand on 24 October, after its 18 October opening in the United States.