Merata

Although Hepi admits that he still has a lot of questions regarding his late mother – and his audience is bound to have theirs, as well – he’s nevertheless put together a stirring, deeply personal, and hard-hitting profile that goes a long way toward illuminating and immortalizing Mita’s contributions to Maori culture and world cinema as a whole.

At its intimate best, Merata is an embrace and an education, a son’s love letter and for cineastes, a celebration of inclusion and voice.

Fascinating and insightful if also (perhaps necessarily) somewhat checkered.