Wait For Me Hollywood tells the incredible story of the Boy who lived

Alex Casey previews Wait For Me Hollywood, the final TVNZ1 Sunday Special following movie star James Rolleston in the aftermath of his near-fatal car accident.  When James Rolleston was a little boy, he used to peer at the TV from his front lounge in Ōpotiki and say “I want to be in there.” Several years … Read more

Diversify or die: What New Zealand television can learn from our film industry

New Zealand is rightly proud of the multi-cultural society it’s growing into. But why are there still minimal Māori, Pacific and Asian populations in prime time? And why does cultural representation in the film industry remain light years ahead of television? In the second part of a two-part series, Sonia Gray tries to find out. … Read more

Celebrating the many faces of Taika Waititi

Joseph Harper celebrates Taika Waititi’s ingenious early comedy gems on NZ On Screen. There’s lots of cool pre-Waititi era Taika – when he was better known as Taika Cohen – on the internet. There are a couple of really lo-fi vids of him and Jemaine Clement as The Humourbeasts hosting some kind of talent quest in … Read more

“Every new film is like creating a member of your family” – Hautoa Ma and the inexorable surge of Māori film

It’s been a good couple of years for Māori filmmakers. There’s been a solid stream of strong, popular films (Mt Zion, Boy, Maori Boy Genius) and several have torn it up overseas (Deadlands, What We Do In the Shadows). A new documentary, Hautoa Ma, interviews key filmmakers about the rise of Māori film. José Barbosa … Read more