MATARIKI DAY AT THE MOVIES Presented By Ahi

Matariki is a time for reflection, connection, and celebration of the past and the future. Using the power of cinema to bring communities together, Ahi sets out to honour Merata Mita, Barry Barclay, Tama Poata, and Geoff Murphy who paved the way for filmmakers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

On Friday 14 July, seminal Aotearoa films Patu!, Mauri, Ngāti and Utu Redux will be shown at Silky Otter Cinemas across the motu in Ponsonby Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Wigram Ōtautahi Christchurch and at the newly opened Papaioea Palmerston North.

Ahi would like to acknowledge the support of Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga (NZFC), Te Puna Ataata Aotearoa Film Heritage Trust, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision and the incredible storytellers and filmmakers that made this all possible.

ABOUT THE FILMS

PATU! (1983)

Directed by Merata Mita

Merata Mita’s Patu! is a startling record of the mass civil disobedience that took place throughout New Zealand during the winter of 1981, in protest against a South African rugby tour. Testament to the courage and faith of both the marchers and a large team of filmmakers, the feature-length documentary is a landmark in Aotearoa's film history.

MAURI (1988)

Directed by Merata Mita

When she made Mauri, Merata Mita became the first Māori woman to write and direct a dramatic feature. Mauri (meaning life force), is loosely set around a love triangle and explores cultural tensions, identity, and changing ways of life in a dwindling East Coast town. As with Barry Barclay film Ngāti, Mauri played a key role in the burgeoning Māori screen industry. Kiwi art icon Ralph Hotere was production designer; the cast included Zac Wallace (star of Utu) and Māori activist Eva Rickard.

NGĀTI (1987)

Directed by Barry Barclay

Set in and around the fictional town of Kapua in 1948, Ngāti is the story of a Māori community. The film comprises three narrative threads: a boy, Ropata, is dying of leukaemia; the return of a young Australian doctor, Greg, and his discovery that he has Māori heritage; and the fight to keep the local freezing works open. Unique in tone and quietly powerful in its storytelling, Ngāti was Barry Barclay's first dramatic feature, and the first feature to be written and directed by Māori.

UTU REDUX (1983/2013)

Directed by Geoff Murphy

In 1983 director Geoff Murphy stormed out of the scrub of the recently reborn New Zealand film industry with a quadruple-barreled shotgun take on the great Kiwi colonial epic. Set during the New Zealand Wars, this tale of a Māori leader (Anzac Wallace) and his bloody path to redress 'imbalance' was the second local film to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival — and the second biggest local hit at that time (after Murphy's Goodbye Pork Pie). A producer-driven recut later screened in North America. This 2013 redux version is "enhanced and restored".

Tickets can be bought from silkyotter.co.nz

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