Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen

Synopsis

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, Merata’s independent political documentaries of the 1970s and 80s highlighted injustices for Māori people and often divided the country. Mita was fearless in her life, her activism and her art. Chronicling the director’s 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.

Main Cast

Merata Mita

Self (archive footage)

Age : 67 | Popularity : 3%

Hepi Mita

Self / Narrator

Age : N/A | Popularity : 3%

Rafer Rautjoki

Self

Age : N/A | Popularity : 3%

Richard Rautjoki

Self

Age : N/A | Popularity : 3%

Rhys Rautjoki

Self

Age : N/A | Popularity : 4%

Awatea Mita

Self

Age : N/A | Popularity : 3%

Eruera Mita

Self

Age : N/A | Popularity : 3%

Alanis Obomsawin

Self

Age : 91 | Popularity : 3%

Crew

Department	Role	Name
Production	Executive Producer	Cliff Curtis
	Producer	Chelsea Winstanley
	Production Assistant	Awatea Mita
	Associate Producer	Manutai Schuster
Editing	Consulting Editor	Annie Collins
	Online Editor	Angela Boyd
	Editor	Te Rurehe Paki
Writing	Creative Producer	Tearepa Kahi
	Writer	Hepi Mita
Sound	Sound Editor	Dick Reade
	Music	Tama Waipara
Crew	Post Production Supervisor	Desray Armstrong
Directing	Director	Hepi Mita
Camera	Director of Photography	Mike Jonathan
Department	Role	Name

Join the discussion