Story: Documentary film

Patu!, 1983

Patu!, 1983

This is a poster for Merata Mita's powerful feature-length documentary Patu!, which follows the growing public protests against the 1981 Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand. When Television New Zealand, Mita's then-employer, declined her proposal for the film, she made it independently, with the voluntary support of film industry professionals. After completion, mainstream cinema chains refused to screen Patu!, but it won high praise at international film festivals.

The poster was designed and produced by the Wellington Media Collective to attract an audience to a showing of the film at their studio in 1982.

Using this item

Wellington Media Collective
Design by Chris McBride

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How to cite this page:

Helen Martin, 'Documentary film - From the 1980s to 2000', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ephemera/43605/patu-1983 (accessed 23 April 2024)

Story by Helen Martin, published 22 Oct 2014