Operation 8
Directed by Errol Wright and Abi King-Jones| Cutcutcut Films | Documentary | 110 mins | 2011
Operation 8 examines the so-called ‘anti-terror’ raids that took place around New Zealand / Aotearoa on October 15, 2007 – asking how and why they took place, and at what cost to those targeted.
On October 15th 2007, activists around New Zealand woke to guns in their faces. Black-clad police smashed down doors, dragging families out onto roads and detaining some without food or water. In the village of Ruatoki, helicopters hovered while locals were stopped at roadblocks. Operation 8 involved 18 months of invasive surveillance of Maori sovereignty and peace activists accused of attending terrorist training camps in the Urewera ranges – homeland of the Tuhoe people. Operation 8 asks why and how the raids took place. How did the War on Terror become a global witch-hunt of political dissenters reaching even to the South Pacific?
The Directors
Errol Wright
Errol’s first documentary Findrs Weeprs screened at the 2002 Wellington Fringe Film Festival to a positive reception. The twenty-minute film was produced, directed and edited by Errol, and shot and supervised in the edit by Abi King-Jones.
In September of 2002, Errol picked up a camera for the first time to shoot his debut feature documentary Te Whanau o Aotearoa – Caretakers of the Land. The film screened as a part of the 2003 Wellington International Film Festival and had a return season at the Paramount Cinema. Errol is credited as co-director, co-producer, co-editor, photography and sound.
In 2006 Errol and Abi completed their second feature documentaryThe Last Resort. The film travelled the country with the New Zealand International Film Festival and has screened at many other festivals and cinemas around the country, as well as on Maori TV and the Documentary Channel. Errol is credited as co-director, co-producer, co-editor, camera & sound.
Errol’s latest project, Operation 8 investigates the nation-wide ‘anti-terror’ raids that occurred on the 15th of October 2007. Filming started in late 2007 and is currently in post-production.
Abi King-Jones
Abi has a Certificate in Film and Television Production from Unitec School of Performance and Screen Arts, and a Bachelor of Arts in Film, Television and Media Studies from the University of Auckland.
She has worked in television as a presentation director (Juice TV), in film as a casting assistant (Aidiko Insane – Kahukura Productions) and in continuity (Two Cars, One Night – Defender Films), and has dabbled in acting.
As a writer, her play A Room That Echoes was produced as part of the 2002 Young and Hungry season at Bats theatre.
In collaboration with Errol Wright, Abi’s first feature documentary Te Whanau o Aotearoa – Caretakers of the Land screened in the 2003 Wellington International Film Festival.
In 2006, their second feature documentary The Last Resort premiered in the New Zealand International Film Festival and has screened widely in cinemas and on television.
In recent years, Abi edited Alister Barry’s feature documentaries A Civilised Society (2007) andThe Hollow Men (2008).
Visit the filmmakers’ website http://cutcutcut.com/
Watch the trailer:
International Film Festival on Peoples' Struggles 