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Operation 8, Movie

Operation 8

2011
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Critically acclaimed New Zealand documentary examining the “anti-terror” raids of October 2007.

On October 15, 2007, activists around New Zealand woke to guns in their faces: black-clad police forced their way into homes and dragged families out onto roads, and in the rural village of Rūātoki, helicopters hovered while locals were stopped at roadblocks.

This was the NZ Police’s ‘Operation 8’ and involved 18 months of surveillance of activists accused of attending terrorist training camps in the Urewera ranges - homeland of the Tūhoe people. Operation 8 asks "How and why did the raids take place? How did the War on Terror become a global witch-hunt of political dissenters reaching even to the South Pacific?"

Starring: Tame Iti, Valerie Morse, Urs Signer, Tuhoe Lambert, Tamati Kruger, Paul Buchanan, Moana Jackson.

Directed by Errol Wright , Abi King-Jones .

Documentary | 1hr 50mins | Country of Origin: New Zealand | Official Site »

140 votes / 36 comments The Talk

  • 80 %

    Want to See it

    What say you?

    • Mmmm

      Lot of biased crap

    • whatever

      if they wernt doing illegal stuff then they wouldnt have been arrested - they were terrorists outside the law and deserved what they got.

    • Karl

      I'm Looking for to see this. Interesting commentary so far, as it hasn't screened yet I presume they are police officers commenting?

    • idiots

      they ate the real inhabitants of NZ, and now they cry when they get their arses kicked by the white man. Boo Hoo harden up

    • K. Carr

      Terrorism is the utilization of terror to subjugate people through fear, seems to be the government is terrorists?

    • Ignorance Reigns

      Funny how racist middle class NZ is too afraid to put their names down isn't it?

    • Truth Hurts

      Isn't it interesting how the idiots come out of the woodwork on the internet when they don't have to show their faces?

    • Bout time

      What do they expect to happen? Police don't get convicted in this country they never do.

    • Racist NZ

      The true NZ only shows on the internet we welcomed all white people with open arms, they show nothing but hostility in return as usual

    • Kiwi NZ

      They had paramilitary training camps, firearms, Molotov cocktails and were talking about how they wanted to attack the government.

    • Caleb

      Needs more explosions.

    • rsole

      how much has old iti got to say in this movie? cause i aint interested at listening to him or looking at his mug

    • Bev

      Iti and Tuhoe need to stop seperating themselves...the treaty is over 100 years old....time to get over it

    • Dom

      Maybe you should look up cultural imperialism Bev, you seem to think everything is clear cut.

    • Dree

      Bev: Tuhoe never signed the Treaty - thats the whole point behind their fight for self determinism

    • Andrew

      The government of NZ should be in trial, for stealing what wasnt theirs!!

    • Gaskranken

      What are Fairfax and Granny going to do with this story? Anyone for 81 all over again? There are known unknowns etc?

    • Bruce

      Great doco - go see it! and Drop the charges.

    • Don B

      Great movie, very wel done.

    • Glen M

      good on the police for giving these radicals a tune up ,but make a movie? i suppose it will give the useless something to do on dole day,

    • freshdude

      Reading the talk ... full of totally ignorant people that just believe whatever their tv spews at them. you NEED to go and see this film

    • molly

      we shuld b afraid of america,talk abwt pot calln kettle blak..re terrorism tuhoe a diversion frm the real thing...

    • da boss

      hullo whatever n did u kno ths govment not ruling lawfully but by assumption wea does that leave u n ur illegalities ha ha

    • YouareMorons

      FFS get over it. It is history.

    • Mike

      Saw it yesterday at Newmarket Rialto, really good film, and really good humour too, much funnier than I had expected!

    • ZEKE

      It shows how lack of info or misinformation caused these unjust arrests.....

    • Ghost

      We stand together to eradicate pot smoking terrorists from NZ.End.of.story.

    • kate

      Saw it yesterday, was impressed to say the least. Gave me a whole new perspective on the whole sorry affair... Recommended viewing.

    • Anti-GovtTerror

      She's right Terrorism is always an inside job.. do the research... Martial Law is well and truly here.

    • Tobes

      Uggh, biased much? I support the govt for what they did. This is a terrible movie.

    • James

      Excellent film, much better than I thought it would be, wasn't preachy at all, just presented the information well, a def must see.

    • Carol

      Going to see it tomorrow @ Melbourne Film Fest!

    • Rae

      every NZer should see this!

    • FlyingKiwi

      Watch it with an open mind, look at the "evidence". Regard the waste of Police resources. Shame on the Police.

    • Elna

      Excellent important NZ film making at its best. V relevant and speaks to bigger picture erosion of civil liberties by this govt and the cops

    • Corey

      Excellent documentary. Complete with interviews from former undercover Police. A real eye opener.

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3 reviews The People's Reviews

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  • phil h.

    Stunning and very frightening. Superb film making. A lesson 4 all of us. Chilling.

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MOST IMPORTANT FOR ALL NEW ZEALANDERS

freshdude Flicks Superstar (?)

It's plain and simple, evry New Zealanders ought to see this film.
It uses the "anti terror" raids of 2007 to demonstrate how the so-called "war on terror" has open the door to all sorts of abuse of power the world around. Members of Geenpeace and Animal rights activists are being labelled "terrorists" ... how did we get there? When did activism and protestation become terrorism?

Some will call it propaganda, most likely people that have not seen and will not see this film, and those same people probably believe whatever propaganda is thrown at them via their tv screens or their government ... sadly it is this people that really should see this film and see the victims side of the story.

  • AGREE? DISAGREE?...

  • freshdude

    You forgot to give it the 5 stars !

comment / reply

The POWER of the State

Gaskranken Nobody (?)

Yep - watched the world premiere of Operation 8.

http://www.cutcutcut.com/Operation8.html

This trial has the potential to divide this country in the same way that the 81 tour did dovetailing so nicely into the lead up to the RWC. When you can get John Minto and Ross Muerant to agree on the complete abuse of State Power you know you're on to something really big.

The theatre was full of the usual suspects, the left wing mal-contents, the leading Wellington politeratti, a fair chunk of white middle class suburbanites and one police plant. He was the only one that didn't clap at the end and asked the only contrary question in the Q&A at the conclusion of the screening.

Remember when we all became familiar with the term `to cherry pick intelligence' remember when Rumsfeld wanted us all to know more about the known unknowns? Or was it the unknown unknowns' I can't remember but anyway he got his special operations group to cherry pick enough lies to make up a nice we power point presentation for Colon at the UN.

Well Detective Sergeant Alan Pascoe is guilty of exactly the same offence and Broad was our Rumsfeld in the whole affair.

So why do I believe that this could be as big as the 81 tour? Because this is not a Taika Waititi movie about some hard case kids on the coast that we can all laugh at, this is going to divide Maori in this country like nothing else since 81. On one side you will have Tama, Hone, Moana Jackson and everyone else who thinks those white mofos have been ripping them off for years and on the other side you will have Parata, Solomon and all the other toadies who want to protect their suction rights within the state trough.

Very well made doco that will have the same cinematic significance as PATU.

review by Pete K

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Press Reviews

Dominion Post (Graeme Tuckett)

Interviewing ex-Red Squad member and National Party MP Ross Meurant was a coup for Wellington's Wright and King-Jones. That he provides the most damning commentary of all on the actions of our police and government should be enough to convince most viewers that this film needed and deserved to be made. Operation 8 is a terrific piece of New Zealand film-making. Go see for yourself.

NZ Herald (Russell Baillie)

Best NZ "terrorist" film since Sleeping Dogs. And it's real...

ONFILM (Helen Martin)

There are shocks galore in this outstanding political documentary. For me the most startling was hearing Ross Meurant, former detective, sometime National Party MP and the face of the much-hated Red Squad during the 1981 Springbok Tour, give frank insider insight into the mind of the New Zealand Police establishment...

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