Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A documentary portrait of the pioneering indigenous filmmaker and activist Merata Mita and an intimate tribute from a son about his mother that delves into the life of the first woman from an Indigenous Nation to solely direct a film anywhere in the world. Known as the grandmother of Indigenous cinema, Meratas independent political documentaries of the 1970s and 80s highlighted injustices for Mori people and often divided the country. Mita was fearless in her life, her activism and her art. Chronicling the directors journey to decolonize the film and television screens of New Zealand and the world, the film documents her work, her early struggles with her family and her drive for social justice that often proved personally dangerous.

Utu

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In New Zealand in the 1860s the native Maori people fought the British colonials to keep the land guaranteed to them by treaty. The warrior Te Wheke fights for the British until betrayal leads him to seek utu (revenge). The settler Williamson in turn seeks revenge after Te Wheke attacks his homestead. Meanwhile Wiremu, an officer for the British, seems to think that resistance is futile.

Merata Mita – MRQE

Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen

Utu