My Humble Friend, Fonoti Pati Umaga 2026

From humble beginnings playing bass guitar with his family band Kabasa in the 1970s, Pati went on to score a number one hit with the Holidaymakers, run his own record label, and help establish Whitireia’s contemporary music programme.

However, music was not only a path to Pati’s success, but also a tool for advocacy. From the protest songs of the 1970s, through the 1981 Springbok Tour, to Nelson Mandela’s 1995 visit to Auckland—where Pati served as a chaperone—he consistently expressed a message of social justice through his songs.

But in 2005, Pati was silenced when a slip in the shower left him paralysed from the neck down. What followed was a long period of depression and soul-searching, as he reckoned with the loss of music, identity, and independence. Yet from this emerged a new purpose, as Pati infused a message of disability awareness into music to create his greatest advocacy work yet.

Mark Papali’i’s documentary follows Pati’s incredible story, with interviews from Pati himself alongside family and close friends including Maiava Nathaniel Lees, Whetu Fala, and Oscar Kightley.

– Heperi Mita