Mita directed Patu!, a documentary chronicling the mass protests against the 1981 South African rugby tour, becoming a defining work of NZ political cinema.
Patu! is Merata Mita's feature-length documentary chronicling the mass civil unrest that gripped New Zealand during the 1981 tour of the country by South Africa's Springboks rugby team, at the height of apartheid. Mita and a small crew filmed protests, police confrontations, and community debates as the tour tore the nation apart over the question of sporting ties with apartheid South Africa.
The film was shot largely without external funding, financed instead through community support and Mita's own resourcefulness, reflecting both the marginal position of independent and Māori filmmakers in the industry and her deep personal commitment to social justice causes. Its release was itself fraught with controversy: police attempted to prevent screenings, and Mita faced surveillance and intimidation for her role in documenting the protest movement from the inside rather than as a detached observer.
Patu! remains a vital historical record of a turning point in New Zealand's national conscience regarding racism, both domestic and international, and cemented Mita's reputation as a fearless, uncompromising documentarian willing to place herself within the events she filmed. The film is frequently cited in discussions of protest cinema and is preserved as a taonga (treasure) of New Zealand's audiovisual heritage by the New Zealand Film Archive/Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.