Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen

Merata Mita argued forcefully that the voices of Māori and of women were sorely lacking on-screen. Best known for her Springbok tour documentary Patu!, the straight-talking director and actor later set up an indigenous filmmaking programme in Hawai'i, and spoke about indigenous film around the globe. After Mita passed away in 2010, her youngest son Hepi began making a film about her — discovering new sides to his mother as he trawled through footage, and interviewed his older siblings. The feature-length documentary debuted at the 2018 NZ International Film Festival.

I don't think they could live with a dull mother now. They expect the level of political and intellectual stimulation they get around here.

– Merata Mita on her older sons, in The Auckland Star, 23 June 1987, page B1

Key Cast & Crew

Chelsea Winstanley

Producer

Hepi Mita

Director

Merata Mita

Subject

Manutai Shuster

Associate Producer

Desray Armstrong

Post-Production Supervisor

Te Rūrehe Paki

Editor