Dame Whina Cooper was a respected kuia, who worked for many years for the rights of her people, and particularly to improve the lot of Māori women. She is remembered for leading the 1975 Māori land march from Te Hāpua to Wellington, a distance of 1,100 km (680 mi), at the age of 79.
Tigilau Ness is a Niuean New Zealand activist and reggae artist, and performs as Unity Pacific. Ness is a political activist and first generation Pacific Island New Zealander.
Toa Fraser is a New Zealand born playwright and film director, of Fijian heritage. His first feature film, No. 2, starring Ruby Dee won the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. His second, Dean Spanley, starring Sam Neill, Jeremy Northam and Peter O'Toole, premiered in September 2008. His third film Giselle was selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. His fourth, The Dead Lands, a Maori action-adventure film, was released in 2014.
Leanne Pooley ONZM is a Canadian filmmaker based in Auckland, New Zealand. Pooley was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she immigrated to New Zealand in the mid-1980s and began working in the New Zealand television and film industry before moving to England where she worked for many of the world's top broadcasters. She returned to New Zealand in 1997 and started the production company Spacific Films. Her career spans more than 25 years and she has won numerous international awards. Leanne Pooley was made a New Zealand Arts Laureate in 2011 and an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year's Honours List 2017. She is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awards continue to be sporadically awarded as the Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards (Moas).
Danny Mulheron is a New Zealand actor, writer, and director who has worked in theatre, television and film.
Bryan Bruce is a New Zealand documentary maker and author. Born in Scotland in 1948, he emigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1956. He grew up in Christchurch and attended the University of Canterbury, where he graduated with an M.A. in sociology and philosophy. Bruce earned a Diploma in Teaching from Christchurch Teachers' College and taught for 10 years. He was a professional musician for 20 years before he took up a career as a documentary maker. Bruce now resides in Auckland, New Zealand.
Dean Spanley is a 2008 British comedy drama film, with fantastic elements, directed by Fijian New Zealander Toa Fraser. Set in Edwardian England, the film is based on an Alan Sharp adaptation of Irish author Lord Dunsany's 1936 novella My Talks with Dean Spanley. It stars Sam Neill as the Dean, Jeremy Northam and Peter O'Toole as Fisk Junior and Fisk Senior respectively and Bryan Brown as Wrather.
Philippa Campbell is a New Zealand film and television producer and the Literary Manager at the Auckland Theatre Company.
NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide authoritative background information.
Sima Urale is a New Zealand filmmaker. Her films explore social and political issues and have been screened worldwide. She is one of the few Polynesian film directors in the world with more than 15 years in the industry. Her accolades include the Silver Lion for Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival for O Tamaiti (1996).
Vaosa ole Tagaloa Makerita Urale is a documentary director and playwright, and a leading figure in contemporary Polynesian theatre in New Zealand. She has produced landmark productions in the performing arts. She is the writer of the play Frangipani Perfume, the first Pacific play written by a woman for an all-female cast. Working in different art mediums, Urale also works in film and television. She is the director of the political documentary Children of the Revolution that won the Qantas Award (2008) for Best Māori Programme.
Rhian Sheehan is a New Zealand composer and producer born in Nelson and now based in Wellington. He is known for his fusing of orchestral chamber music and piano, with ambient electronic and post-rock cinematic atmospheres. He has also written music for film, television, video games, exhibitions, advertisements, roller coaster rides, and planetarium dome shows.
Justin Pemberton is a documentary filmmaker based in New Zealand.
Chris Plummer is a New Zealand film editor. He has worked on a number of films, including the shorts Sure to Rise and Possum, and feature films Channelling Baby, In My Father's Den, Black Sheep, No.2, Vincent Ward's documentary Rain of the Children, and Taika Waititi's Boy.
The 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards were held on Saturday 5 September at the Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand. The craft awards were presented in a separate awards lunch at the Civic Theatre Friday 4 September. Highlights from the main awards evening were broadcast on TV3.
Leon Gordon Alexander Narbey is a New Zealand cinematographer.
Lisa-Jane Taouma is a Samoan New Zealand writer, film and television director, and producer.
The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls is a New Zealand documentary film, directed by Leanne Pooley and released in 2009. The film profiles The Topp Twins, a lesbian comedy music duo from New Zealand.
Paula Whetu Jones is a New Zealand film director and writer. She is best known for her 2003 documentary Gang Girls, the 2020 comedy series I Date Rejects, and the 2022 feature film Whina, a biopic on the life of Dame Whina Cooper.
