CutCutCut press release
Patu! Historic Nz Doco Screening!
PATU! 8:30pm, Friday 30th, Paramount Theatre, Wellington
PATU! (NZ 1983) "A major documentary of our time" 8:30pm, Fri most controversial, and the most contested, event in
recent New Zealand history was the 1981 South African rugby tour. Half the country was opposed to the tour, the
establishment was determined the tour would go ahead, and the result was a country divided against itself almost to the
point of civil war. This incredible documentary shows what happened.
The actual filming was both dangerous and difficult and attempts to have the negative confiscated...[Merata Mita's]
achievement is as impressive technically as it is effective emotionally. A major documentary of our time." - London Film
Festival.
This one off screening of the 1983 documentary PATU! has been organised to raise awareness about the recent raids on
activists across the country. PATU! documents the anti-apartheid protests in 1981 and has particular relevance in terms
of the recent police raids and the Terrorism Suppression Act as John Minto recently pointed out.
"The proposed new law would have meant many of the civil disobedience protests from 1981 could have been classed as
"terrorist activities". Actions such as the 40 people sitting on Rotorua airport runway, the invasion of the pitch in
Hamilton and the blocking of the Auckland harbour bridge could all easily qualify. These anti-terror laws are George
Bush's laws. They were never designed for New Zealand."
At the time of the tour John Minto was the national organiser of Halt All Racist Tours (HART).
PATU!
Produced by Merata Mita
Year: 1983
Prod Co: Awatea Films
Country: New Zealand
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CutCutCut:
Local Doco Screening
The closure of a 60 year-old campground and subsequent beachfront occupation by tangata whenua at Opoutama, Mahia - to
the debates raging over the Overseas Investment Bill in Parliament - The Last Resort investigates notions of land and
business ownership, signaling the changing tides of sovereignty and self-determination in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
"Thought-provoking and poignant" - Mark Orton, Otago Daily Times
"Moving and disturbing in equal measures" - Margaret Agnew. The Press
"See this film at least once" -
ENDS