This August 1983 Close Up report reveals how making landmark documentary Patu! cost filmmaker Merata Mita financially, personally and spiritually. Alison Parr interviews Mita at her Auckland office, where a group of committed volunteers including veteran protestor Tim Shadbolt and Utu actor Anzac Wallace help distribute the film. Mita calmly relays her shock at the "viciousness" Patu! uncovered and how it affected her whānau. Bishop Desmond Tutu expresses his admiration, while Elizabeth Sutherland from SPIR (Society for the Protection of Individual Rights) is not so enthusiastic. Read more about Patu! here.
Note: Patu! clips are missing from this report
I totally underestimated the viciousness that lies just below the surface of New Zealand society. I totally underestimated the amount of racism that there was, and how little it takes, you know, before it comes to the surface.– Filmmaker Merata Mita on what documentary Patu! revealed to her about New Zealand
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