Merata Mita was a notable filmmaker in New Zealand as well as a key figure in the growth of the Māori screen industry. She was from the Māori iwi of Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāi Te Rangi.
Background
Mita was born in Maketu in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. She was the third eldest of nine children and had a traditional rural Māori upbringing. She taught at Kawerau College for eight years, where she began using film and video to reach high school students characterized as "unteachable", many of them Māori. The experience eventually led her into a lengthy career in the film and television industry. She moved to Hawaii in 1990 and taught documentary film making at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
Films
Mita was the first indigenous woman and the first woman in Aotearoa New Zealand to solely write and direct a dramatic feature film. Hers was Mauri. In 1972 she had been co-director with Ramai Te Miha Hayward of To Love A Maori. An accomplished documentary director and producer for more than 25 years, Mita made landmark documentary films such as, Patu!, about the violent clashes between anti-apartheid protesters and the police during the controversial 1981 South African Springboks rugby tours in New Zealand and Bastion Point: Day 507, about the eviction of Ngāti Whātua from their traditional land. Hotere documented the life and work of well-known Māori artist Ralph Hotere. She also directed the music video Waka for hip-hop artist Che Fu.
Acting
Mita played the role of 'Matu' in the New Zealand feature film Utu, which was directed by her husband Geoff Murphy, starred Anzac Wallace, and featured veteran Māori actor Wi Kuki Kaa. She also acted in the television adaptation of The Protesters, written by Rowley Habib.
Documentary on Mita's work
In 1998, Mita was the subject of a documentary in the television series, Rangatira: Merata Mita - Making Waves, directed by Hinewehi Mohi. In October 2014, NZ on Air announced funding for a biographical film, Te Taki A Merata Mita – How Mum Decolonised The Screen, to be directed by her son Heperi Mita, for cinematic release and screening on Maori Television. On November 28, 2018, the documentary was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival in their 2019 programme.
International influence
Mita's influence among indigenous filmmakers internationally was considerable, through film organizations and film festivals in which she mentored, such as the Sundance Film Festival's Native Film Initiative, the National Geographic All Roads Indigenous Film Festival, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's consortium Pacific Islanders in Communications, and through her teaching at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
Recognition and awards
Some of Mita's recognition and awards:
Flaherty Seminar's "Leo Dratfield Award for "Commitment and Excellence in Documentary"
Taos Film Festival's "Mountain Award for excellence, commitment, and innovation"
