Merata Mita

A passionate advocate for Māori creative control, director Merata Mita (1942 — 2010) chronicled landmark moments of protest and division in Aotearoa. Her work included Patu!, a documentary on the 1981 Springbok tour, and Mauri (1988), only the second feature to have a Māori woman as director. She features in documentaries Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen and Merata Mita - Making Waves.

Swimming against the tide becomes an exhilarating experience. It makes you strong. I am completely without fear now. Merata Meta in an interview with Listener writer Helen Martin, 14 October 1989