Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was.

“History repeats itself” has been repeated throughout history so often and to no avail that it’s become an ouroboros. It’s most often wheeled out as the reason to study history – to document it, analyse it and resurface it in order to not make the same mistakes over and over. It doesn’t ever seem to work but it makes for good stories.

The Haka Party Incident is an exercise in pointing at history with a raised eyebrow. The documentary, which is showing in cinemas nationwide right now, takes its name from the critically-acclaimed play, first performed in 2017. Both serve as a reminder of a short saga in New Zealand’s not so distant past, and how it has shaped and been mirrored in the New Zealand of today. Drawing from the most of the same interviews used to script the verbatim play, the documentary speaks to a number of parties involved in “the haka party incident” – in which Māori and Pasifika activist group He Taua confronted a group of Pākehā University of Auckland engineering students on the morning of their infamous “haka party”.

The Spinoff has long been a fan of the play. In fact, both reviews of it (one from 2017, another from 2021) describe it as “more documentary than theatre” in what I can only assume was intended as a high compliment from two journalists. But watching the documentary this week reminded me that every story has its perfect medium, and it’s not always the one you’d expect.

First, the good: you should watch this documentary. The best documentaries rather ironically rely on documentaries of the past, used as archive. The Haka Party Incident has some incredible archive. There’s striking images of haka parties throughout the 70s, news interviews from 1979 with He Taua members and footage from the University of Auckland forum on racism shortly after the incident. Seeing such footage played against the reflections of the subjects four decades later is the beauty of documentary, even when at times I found myself simply wanting to watch the rest of Richard Harman’s current affairs segment from 1979 or the full roundtable discussion on Māori-Crown affairs from 1985.

At its core, the film is a reminder of our national identity and for that reason alone should be seen by every New Zealander.

And yet I found myself instead thinking about the play, where seven actors played 38 characters, and the past and present existed in the same breath. Because while the play dropped its audience straight into the university quad in 1979 and it worked in its intimacy, historical documentary by its very nature requires zooming out. I waited for the contextual corkboard to be laid out on which to pin the central incident but it never came. No mention of political leaders at the time, recent historical events or possible previews to what happened on May 1. The film strayed from the play in its ending by introducing present day political events and specifics for modern context, but I would’ve loved to see that replicated in its opening.

The most compelling (for lack of a better word) moments in the film are the interviews with the engineering students, now in their sixties. Their reflections and (lack of) introspection about the incident and racism in New Zealand is frustrating and yet you find yourself feeling grateful to the men for allowing themselves to be part of this education for everyone else. There had been moments in the play that felt almost caricatured but seeing them on screen revealed the truth in every actor’s performance.

Every story has the perfect medium that makes it unforgettable, whether it’s a film, book, painting, play, essay or tweet. Often, we hear or tell a story through the wrong medium (the articles under my name that should’ve been texts and texts that should’ve been thoughts… ) For those 10,000 New Zealanders who learned about the haka party incident in a live theatre, I suspect that is what will stay with you and the documentary will serve as supplementary material, which is technically how it was conceived. Or maybe in three years there’ll be a podcast and we’ll realise it should’ve been that all along. With cultural funding staring down a slippery slope, having options for how we consume a story may soon be a luxury of the past, so we are lucky to have them with this one.

For me, the play and its juxtapositions and heart is what will stay with me. For others, the documentary and its visual punches will reign supreme. Both should exist and be celebrated. Whatever helps us remember.

This week on Behind the Story

This week was the first week back for politicians in parliament, which meant a big week for anyone reporting in the gallery. Newly minted Spinoff political reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith spent 12 hours listening to oral submissions to the select committee on the treaty principles bill, and started her new column Echo Chamber, which recaps the lively question times in the House for those too busy to watch parliament TV. Lyric joined Madeleine Chapman on Behind the Story to share how she’s settling in and what her aspirations are for the next six months in the gallery.

What have readers spent the most time reading this week?

• Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Joel MacManus report from Select Committee Room 3 on what you missed from day one of the Treaty principles bill hearings. (We also covered the second day)
• The documentary Prime Minister, about Jacinda Ardern, just premiered at Sundance. Here’s what the critics, and the subject herself, are saying
• Self-proclaimed yes-man Luxon has a culture of saying no to housing in Wellington, writes Joel MacManus
• Gareth Hughes argues there’s reasons to be sceptical of chasing economic growth as the answer to what ails us
• When public services are failing, it’s easy to look to privatisation. Max Rashbrooke argues that is a failure of the imagination

Comments of the week

• On Have big summer festivals stopped being fun? An argument with myself“As a fellow Twisted attendee and an ex-goer of commercialised festivals, you just can’t beat the warm embrace of Twisted. Friendly, shared energy, a plethora of music for all tastes, the river!!! I’ve been three times, and it just gets better. No cell service, camp at beside your cars/in your cars, can bring cookers/BBQs. A huge focus on the environment – both to take care of it, and take care of each other. And a huge plus for me is the lack of focus around alcohol and because people aren’t drinking as much, the whole vibe is more pleasant. Sure it isn’t as ‘underground’, but it still attracts a certain type of music lover/festival goer. Glad you had a good time :)”
• On Browny’s pool was a gamble and it’s paid off“I like the pool, and I’m glad that the mayor championed it.Can we acknowledge that Eke Panuku were already well underway looking at improving swimming areas downtown, including this upgrade to Karanga Tidal Steps, before Wayne Brown even ran for office.No doubt the support from Brown expedited it happening. But I find it distasteful the way he happily claims all credit for this, without acknowledging Eke Panuku’s role in planning and delivering the work. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: he berates Eke Panuku publicly and has now dismantled then entirely.Dude needs to learn to say thank you and support his team”

Pick up where this leaves off

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