Wairoa Maori Film Festival Marks Passing Of Merata

Wairoa Maori Film Festival Marks Passing Of Merata Mita

Nuhaka Wairoa District Aotearoa Sunday 6 June 2010

This year's Wairoa Maori Film Festival, currently underway at Kahungunu Marae in Nuhaka, has marked the passing of indigenous film Rangatira Merata Mita.

"I wish to state that we are all deeply saddened by the passing of Mana Wahine Merata Mita this week," said Festival Director Leo Koziol. "Merata was an early and staunch supporter of the Wairoa Maori Film Festival, and attended the festival in 2005 where she presented her film works PATU and DAY 507. Merata was instrumental in bringing support of other film makers and National Geographic to our first festival, and had gone on to form her own film festival Aotearoa Film Festival with Te Wananga O Aotearoa. This news was sudden and has shocked us all, and our heartfelt condelences go out to her whanau and many many many friends."

The Wairoa Maori Film Festival marked the passing of Merata Mita by delaying the formal proceedings of the festival until Saturday morning. A delegation of film makers who had attended the Tangi were welcomed as manuhiri with a Powhiri on the Saturday. Katie Wolfe, who had been supported in her film development process for short film REDEMPTION by Merata Mita, spoke of how Merata had told her it is important for our stories to be told on screen, and of how she was encouraged to strive to complete her work.

It was a fitting tribute to Merata that the audience award for Best Short Film Aotearoa was presented to Hiona Henare for URU. "We received over fourteen short film entries to our film festival, and only two of them were from women, URU by Hiona Henare and REDEMPTION by Katie Wolfe," says Mr. Koziol, "So it is only fitting that the audience award went to an emerging Maori wahine film maker."

Hiona Henare's story URU is based on a speech made by a Kahungunu wahine leader in 1895 at a founding Maori Women's Welfare League Conference. The audience award is selected by the audience at the festival, which once again comprised a mix of local community kuia and kaumatua, guests from near and afar, and numerous film makers attending to present their film works.

The Board and Patrons of the Wairoa Maori Film Festival share the sentiments of Nga Aho Whakaari Chairman Tearepa Kahi, "The truth: Merata Mita is a towering giant whose body of work stirs, ignites and guides our emotional and cultural understanding of our country and our people. She was a fierce advocate, a cultural revolutionary, an intellectual and artistic practitioner and mentor, a beautiful mother, a youthful grandmother and a dear friend. The future: Merata Mita challenges us all to continue the pursuit of 'decolonizing the screen' in order to better understand ourselves."

ENDS

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