In 1988, Merata Mita was the first Māori woman to write and (solo) direct a narrative feature film in New Zealand. In 2019, she remains the only Māori woman to do so. This is her story, as told by her youngest son.
Cliff Curtis will make his directing debut on a family film based on the true story of a boy whose dog is lost overboard, feared dead.
Cliff Curtis has more 50 screen credits as an actor but he is just as passionate about his role as a producer and executive producer – and he may soon direct his first feature.
Māori filmmakers Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace-Smith have won the 2019 Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship, selected after a global call for applicants.
Ten New Zealand features and shorts including a record number by female directors will screen in official selection at the Berlin International Film Festival next month while two will feature at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas in March.
Producer, director and screenwriter Geoff Murphy, a leading figure in New Zealand cinema’s renaissance of the late 1970s and early 1980s, died in Wellington on Monday. He was 80.
Kiwi director Heperi Mita's debut feature Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen will have its international premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.