Controversial film gets first Waikato screening

Operation 8 - Deep in the Forest
Operation 8: Deep in the Forest - Image supplied

The Old School Arts Centre has advised that as many people have asked for another screening, Operation 8 will screen again on Friday 14th October at 7.30pm.  Ph 825 0023 or email info@raglanartscentre.co.nz to reserve seats.

‘Operation 8: Deep in the Forest’, the movie about the 2007 Police raids in the Ureweras, is screening later in September at the Raglan Film Festival. While it has screened in Auckland, Wellington and Melbourne, until now it has not screened in the Waikato. Filmed over three years, the film does justice to the complex issues involved. ‘Operation 8’ asks why and how the raids took place. The movie has come into greater prominence with the recent announcement that charges have been dropped for many of the accused.

Peter Calder writing in the NZ Herald said. What’s new about the film is that it gives a voice to those who have so far been voiceless. The opening shots, a helicopter-eye view of the forest, plays over the words of 12-year-old Patricia Lambert, caught in the raids on Tuhoe. “I saw all these people in black,” she says. “It was really scary.”

The film will screen at 7.30pm on Thursday 22nd September at the Raglan Old School Arts Centre in Stewart St, Raglan. There will be a discussion session after the screening. Errol Wright and Abi King-Jones, the directors of the film will be there for the screening and discussion. Tickets can be reserved by phoning 825 0023 or emailing info@raglanartscentre.co.nz

Other New Zealand movies in the Festival, ‘Hook Line & Sinker’, ‘Sam Hunt – Purple Balloon and Other Stories’ offer widely different examples of New Zealand Film making and have had very limited screening in the Waikato. An extensive line-up of New Zealand short films will also be shown.

Brochures with the full programme available from the Raglan Information Centre in Wainui Rd or from the Old School in Stewart St, phone 825 0023 or online at www.raglanartscentre.co.nz/movies.htm.

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