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Patu!
Film (Full Length) – 1983
Merata Mita’s Patu! charts the protests that took place across New Zealand in the winter of 1981, before and during a South African rugby tour. Testament to the courage and faith of both the marchers and a large team of filmmakers, the feature documentary is seen as a landmark in New Zealand screen history. It staunchly contradicts claims by author Gordon McLauchlan of New Zealanders being "a passionless people". Conflicting views about the tour spread to the film itself, with some saying it shouldn't have got any state funding. In 1993, a shortened version screened on TVNZ. Read about Patu! and the tour here.
Yes, Patu! has a Māori perspective, but it does not override the mass mobilisation of New Zealand's white middle class, neither does it take credit from those who rightly deserve it, everyone who put themselves on the line. My perspective encourages people to look at themselves and examine the ground they stand on.– Director Merata Mita responds to accusations Patu! is biased, in 1992 book Film in Aotearoa New Zealand, page 47
Key Cast & Crew
See all 42 credits
Produced by
Awatea Films
Acknowledgements
Made with financial assistance from the QEll Arts Council & the NZ Film Commission — "plus all those who contributed in ways too numerous to mention"
Music
Theme Music by Diatribe and Tia Kingi
More Information
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Video interview with Patu! editor Annie Collins, Ngā Taonga website
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Live radio report on protests during the first match, in Gisborne, Te Ara website
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Article looking back on anti-tour protests in Hamilton, The Waikato Times, July 2021
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Article on 1981 anti-tour protests near Parliament, NZ History website
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