Merata Mita as Matu in Utu (1983)
Merata Mita collapsed while in Newmarket, Auckland and died a short time later on Monday 31 May 2010.
Merata Mita was a key figure in the story of Māori filmmaking. Through documentaries, interviews, public speaking and her 1987 dramatic feature Mauri, she was a passionate voice for Māori and an advocate for social change.
Merata Mita grew up in the Bay of Plenty town of Maketu, the third eldest of nine children. She had a traditional rural Māori upbringing, and recalls watching newsreels when films were projected onto the walls of the local wharenui.
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by admin on March 16, 2010
Taika Waititi as Shogun leader of the Crazy Horses gang
Taika Waititi has joined the cast of fellow New Zealand director Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern. Produced by Warner Bros Pictures the filming is set to start later this month in New Orleans. The film is scheduled for a mid-2011 release.
Waititi will play the best friend of the Green Lantern. The decision to cast Waititi in the role was made after Warner Bros casting director’s watched New Zealand feature film, BOY, which Waititi wrote, directed and also stars in as the hapless but likeable father of two young boys being raised on the East Coast in 1984.
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