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Witness
An Innocent Warrior
In 2007 New Zealand police arrested charismatic Maori leader Tame Iti and others in anti-terrorist raids after a period of surveillance. In a long trial, Iti and three other people (the "Urewera Four") were accused of running a terrorist training camp and of being members of a criminal group. The high court found them not guilty of terrorism but they were jailed for firearms offences. The case was the culmination of 170 years of conflict between the New Zealand Crown and the Ngai Tuhoe tribe, who had suffered appalling injustice including the dispossession of their land. Filmed over seven years, Iti fights to clear his name and in a surprising turn, the Crown apologises to the Ngai Tuhoe for the historical oppression. This is an extraordinary film about a clash of cultures and indigenous people reconciling with the colonial power.