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 Springbok tour documentary Patu!, the straight-talking director and actor ran an indigenous filmmaking programme in Hawai'i, and inspired indigenous directors in Aotearoa and abroad. After Mita passed away in 2010, her youngest son Heperi began making a film about her — discovering new sides to his mother while trawling through old films and talking to his siblings. The feature-length documentary debuted at the 2018 NZ International Film Festival and at Sundance, and later sold to Netflix.

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

Heperi Mita

Director, Narrator

Tearepa Kahi

Creative Producer

Chelsea Winstanley

Producer

Merata Mita

Subject

Mike Jonathan

Cinematographer

Tama Waipara

Composer