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Keskidee Aroha

1980 Film
  • Arts/Culture
  • Documentary
  • Māori

This film documents the influential 1979 New Zealand tour of a black theatre group from London arts centre Keskidee. They visit marae, perform at The Gluepot, prisons and youth centres; meet gang members, Ratana ministers and a young Tāme Iti; and korero about roots and fights for rights. The made-for-TV film was directed by Merata Mita and Martyn Sanderson. On the tour Sanderson met his future wife, Kenyan actor Wanjiku Kairie. Tour instigator Denis O’Reilly argued in 2009 that the doco is “full of insights at a time of huge social and cultural shifts in Aotearoa.”

Key Cast & Crew

Profile picture of Merata Mita
Merata Mita
Co-Director
Profile picture of Martyn Sanderson
Martyn Sanderson
Co-Director