Interview - MURU director, Taerapa Kahe, and star/activist Tame Iti

MURU, winner of the APSA Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and New Zealand's 2022 submission to the International Feature category of the Oscars, is a stunning piece of filmmaking that is releasing in Australian cinemas on October 13 2022.
To celebrate the release, Film Focus Magazine spoke with the director of the film, Taerapa Kahe, and one of its stars - real life artist and activist Tame Iti - about the challenges of turning hundreds of years of police oppression into a single film, about shooting in thriving and vibrant community, about playing yourself in a movie, and about balancing action and emotion in this thrilling film.
SYNOPSIS: Inspired by actual events, MURU is the powerful story of a local Police Sergeant ‘Taffy’ Tāwharau who recently returned home to the remote Ruatoki valley to look after his sick father. Taffy’s father’s close associate, Tame Iti runs a series of boot camps in the valley called ‘Rama’ (firelight). These camps are centred around survival skills and to keep their shared Tūhoe identity alive. Despite many invitations, Taffy has never attended Camp Rama. Unknown to everyone in the valley, Rama has been under police surveillance for six months and when a troubled youth (Rusty) fires a loaded rifle, surveillance footage triggers a response, led by Captain Gallagher and an elite STG unit. With pressure mounting to intervene, Gallagher starts to doubt the veracity of Tame Iti as a potential domestic terrorist. Tensions heighten when Rusty is caught in a domestic disturbance and rather than locking him up, Taffy takes Rusty to Camp Rama to deal with the situation. While Rusty joins the Rama circle and learns about his Tūhoe identity, Taffy sees a dark shape beyond the campfire and gives chase. Taffy pursues the runner through the bush and discovers a surveillance van. Gallagher steps out and confronts Taffy, 'Are you with us, or are you with Tame?' Taffy senses the danger to his community and chooses to help Gallagher facilitate a safe round up of Tame and other targets, but the Government betrays this agreement when Gallagher launches the Police Raid on a school day. During the raid, something goes wrong, leading to Taffy to make a bigger choice, 'serve or protect'. This gripping action drama is not a re-creation, but a response to the 2007 Tūhoe raids. MURU is a Māori concept for 'forgiveness’

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Can't wait to see this. It looks epic.

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