Treaty Talks: Indigenous Leadership and Climate Change

Decolonise your cinema with the seminal short Bastion Point: Day 507, followed by a panel discussion, presented by Fem&ist Films

The way forward is guided by the past. How is the urgency of Indigenous leadership underscored by climate change? What’s the difference between custodianship and ownership of land?

Presented by Fem&ist Films, Bastion Point: Day 507 by Merata Mita, Leon Narbey and Gerd Pohlmann chronicles the state-sponsored eviction of the Ngāti Whātua tribe from their ancestral lands on Takaparawhau, Bastion Point. Elders onsite asked Mita, Narbey and Pohlmann to attend with cameras, to document what went down. It's significant, in the context of the climate crisis, that the Ngāti Whātua used Indigenous farming practices as a form of protest during the 507 days of occupation.

The post-film panel will bring together Aboriginal and Māori community leaders to discuss what life under Indigenous sovereignty could look like.

Merata Mita (1941–2010, Te Arawa, Ngāti Pikiao) was the first Indigenous woman in the world to write and direct a narrative feature film. Recognised as "the spark that actually set the fire” for Indigenous cinema, the Sundance Institute established the Merata Mita Fellowship for Indigenous Artists in her name. She is the subject of her son Heperi Mita’s biopic, Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen, available on Netflix. Join us for the rare opportunity to see one of Merata Mita’s earliest films.

Special thanks to Kahu Kutia at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision for their support in developing this program, courtesy of Merata Mita Estate, Leon Narbey, Gerd Pohlmann and Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei.

Material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Courtesy of Merata Mita Estate, Leon Narbey, Gerd Pohlmann and Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei