Peter Jackson Brings to Life WWI on The Big Screen
Peter Jackson “is up to his usual ambitious tricks in his latest project, the World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old,” writes Zack Sharf in an article for…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Music’s Most Powerful Tastemaker Zane Lowe
Auckland-born, LA-based radio host Zane Lowe “has been in the thick of the music industry for nearly 20 years — first as a presenter for MTV, than as the 13-year host of BBC Radio…
What We Do In the Shadows Premieres at NY Comic Con
The first episode of the upcoming What We Do in the Shadows TV show, featuring co-creators Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, has been screened at New York Comic Con.” Christian Holub reports in an…
NZ’s Shearing Women Wow on Screen
“Female shearers across the ditch are celebrating the anticipated release of a film shining a spotlight on their industry and gender. The trailer for She Shears featuring five female shearers…
Peter Macky Renews Historic German Train Station
Aucklander Peter Macky, a former lawyer, has nearly completed a 10-year restoration of the first Kaiserbahnhof train station in Halbe, Germany. Macky, who lives six months of the year in Germany, says he stumbled upon…
DJ Christoph El Truento Announces New Album
New Zealand-born sound explorer, producer and DJ Christoph El Truento has just announced the release of his new album LWMP18 through Berlin-based record label/artist collective C O S M I C | C O…
Temuera Morrison & Sam Neill to Star in “The Brighton Miracle”
Temuera Morrison and Sam Neill are to star in “The Brighton Miracle”, a film that portrays “Japan’s famous win over South Africa at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.” The victory is “regarded by many…
Scott Dixon Dazzles in ‘Born Racer’
Set against Scott Dixon’s “2017 IndyCar season with snippets and key moments from nearly every race”, Born Racer “begins with the Indy 500, where Dixon crashed in horrifying style. What follows are the challenges…
Mind Altering Moments with Unknown Mortal Orchestra
“An hour-long set of psychedelic sonic explorations breathes fire into songs that can border on boring in their studio iterations,” the Sydney Morning Herald’s Matt Teffer writes in a review of a recent
Francis Upritchard Exhibition on at the Barbican
This autumn, to mark the 30th Curve commission at London’s Barbican Centre, New Plymouth-born and London-based artist Francis Upritchard, 42, has created a new, site-specific installation. Drawing from figurative sculpture, craft…
London’s Oceania Exhibition Gets More Rave Reviews
The new Oceania exhibition has just opened at London’s Royal Academy of Arts. The Guardian’s art reviewer Jonathan Jones was there, deeming the show “dazzling … like having the ocean…
Riverdale’s KJ Apa Makes the Cover of GQ
KJ Apa is really going places. Driven, humble, talented, the boy from New Zealand is soon to be everywhere, according to Jake Millar in a cover story written for GQ Australia. Apa, 21,…
NZ Herald Cartoonist Rod Emmerson Receives Award
Rod Emmerson, who is the editorial cartoonist for The New Zealand Herald, has been recognised for his popular artwork after receiving a new award he says “beats a knighthood”. While in California attending a conference for…
Marlon Williams Pops Up in Lady Gaga Film
Oscar-nominated Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper’s film, A Star Is Born, featuring Lady Gaga in the lead female role, has been generating steady awards buzz since debuting at the Venice Film Festival last month and…
Rose Matafeo on “Being Called the Voice Of Millennials”
“When Rose Matafeo won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show at the Edinburgh Festival in August the acclaim was widespread. The director of the awards, Nica Burns, described the London-based New Zealander as…
This Year’s Turner Prize “Packs a Political Punch”
“This year’s Turner Prize exhibition is entirely devoted to the moving image with works by the four nominees all lovingly installed in black boxes at Tate Britain in London,” writes Lorena Muñoz-Alonso in an…
NZ’s Best Live Music Venues
“Having just returned from a trip across the pond I can safely say New Zealand is like no other,” writes Jareth Leslie-Evans in an article in Australian based online music and youth culture magazine…
Cast Announced for BBC’s The Luminaries Adaptation
Eva Green (“Casino Royale”), Eve Hewson (“The Knick”) and Marton Csokas (“Into the Badlands”) will star in “The Luminaries, “the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s award-winning novel,” writes Stewart Clarke in an article for…
Melanie Lynskey Steps into Castle Rock Character
New Zealander Melanie Lynskey, one of the stars of Hulu’s Castle Rock, came of age in a cinematic era of dark quirk, but from Heavenly Creatures to Ever After to Sweet Home Alabama to…
Royal Academy Compels a Generation of New Voyagers at Riveting Oceania Exhibition
“Quite the most striking thing about this exhibition on the art of the Pacific islands is the sheer scale of the area it covers: Oceania,” writes Melanie McDonagh in a review of the exhibition…
Blonde Poison in Berlin Stars Dulcie Smart
Germany-based actress New Zealander Dulcie Smart performs in the Berlin production of Blonde Poison, on until 3 October at the city’s Brotfabrik theatre. In the one-woman play, Smart plays Stella, an older woman looking…
Musician Julien Dyne Ups the Tempo on Teal
New Zealander Julien Dyne’s forthcoming album Teal is “a joyful exploration of afro-influenced percussive house and electronic soul”, according to Anton Spice writing for Britain’s music and arts enterprise, The Vinyl Factory. “Dyne, whose CV…
Paul Ewen’s Francis Plug Saviour of Comic Fiction
New Zealand-born author Paul Ewen’s creation Francis Plug, sociopathic stalker of literary celebrities, returns in, Francis Plug: Writer in Residence. Ben Myers reviews the book for The Spectator. “Plug first appeared as the unhinged narrator of 2014’s…
Artist Angela Tiatia Holds On in Tuvalu’s Tides
Auckland-born, Sydney-based artist Angela Tiatia, who was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize, is a person of movement, of restless tides. Her solo show, Holding On, is exhibited at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre…
Robinson Releases Heartachingly Honest “Medicine”
“Robinson’s upbeat electronic pop anthem ‘Nothing To Regret,’ has over 50 million streams online, and went gold in her home of New Zealand. Now, she’s seeking global stardom with ‘Medicine,”…
Ashleigh Young’s Evocative Prose is Irresistible
“New Zealander Ashleigh Young’s Can You Tolerate This? is an extremely charming essay collection, comprised mainly of snapshots of Young’s life from childhood onwards; walking across gravel roads hand in…
Rosé a New Zealand-Born K-Pop Idol
A member of one of the most popular female K-pop girl groups, Auckland-born Park Chae Young, aka Rosé, 21, is gaining popularity in her own right for the sweet timbre of her voice. Since the…
Imogen Taylor Wins Wallace Arts Trust Paramount Award & Frances Hodgkins Fellowship
New Zealand artist Imogen Taylor has won this year’s Wallace Arts Trust Paramount Award with her work Refusal to Yield and has received the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship for 2019, writes…
Taika Waititi Speaks at Toronto Master Class
“I dreamt of becoming a filmmaker in my 30s, it was an arranged marriage,” New Zealand director Taika Waititi told the audience at a recent Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)…
Gemma New Leads St. Louis Symphony Opener
This month, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) opens its 2018/2019 season on 22 and 23 September, at Powell Hall. Resident conductor, New Zealander Gemma New will lead the orchestra,…
Broods Release “Lovably Bizarre” Video for “Peach”
Brother-sister duo “Broods are back with a new music video for ‘Peach,’ marking the first visuals for their upcoming album, which is slated to release in…
Anna Paquin Stars in New Film Tell It to the Bees
New Zealander Anna Paquin’s new film, Tell It to the Bees may be set in a small Scottish village in the 1950s, but it deals with issues that are still…
Video of One Honky-Tonky Wonky Donkey Goes Viral
A Scottish grandmother’s reading of New Zealander Craig Smith’s 2009 children’s picture book The Wonky Donkey to her grandson in a home video has seen demand for it skyrocket around the…
Lorde Is an Author of Adolescent Evolution
“You could drink the water content out of the air the first time I heard Lorde on the radio,” according to South Florida-based NPR journalist Cyrena Touros. “Spun between Imagine Dragons’ speaker-shaking ‘Radioactive’ and…
Harry Potter Musical Casts Gareth Reeves in Lead
Playing the boy who lived – well, the man who lived, given that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts – is Gareth Reeves (pictured right),…
Dancer Brendan Cole Announces Big Strictly News
In an exclusive interview and photoshoot for Hello!, former Strictly Come Dancing star Christchurch-born Brendan Cole, 42, has announced that he will be writing a weekly column on the new series of the BBC…
Oregon-Based Paul Nicholson’s Life of Purpose
Retired Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) executive director Paul Nicholson is interviewed by Oregon daily newspaper, Mail Tribune as part of the publication’s periodic ‘Community Builder’ series. Nicholson, who moved to the United States in 1980, says…
Zaha Hadid Architects Unveil Auckland Vision
Five competing visions for a landmark new hotel and residential tower on Federal Street in Auckland – including one by UK-based Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) – have been unveiled. The other proposals are by local…
Natasha Wright to Open First Solo Show
New Zealand artist Natasha Wright is opening her first solo show on September 19th in New York. Her work “combines figuration and abstraction from a feminine perspective.” “My paintings merge figuration…
Lucy Tupu And Max Gimblett Collaborate To Create Beauty At Your Feet
“With her Polynesian heritage and love for all things bright and bold, coupled with Max’s artistic talent Lucy Tupu has just launched her first collaboration.” “Drawn to
Superorganism Adapts to Remixes and Popularity
The press has embraced Superorganism not just for its cuddly psychedelia, but also for its story – eight members, including a fresh-out-of-high-school Japanese-American lead singer, who have come together from points as diverse as…
Rising Star Robinson Hits Huge Streaming Figures
Young New Zealand singer-songwriter who goes by just her surname, Robinson, has had a lot to get excited about recently, NME reports. Her latest tune “Nothing to Regret” has totally blown up. It’s gone…
Artist Tom White Collaborates With AI
Tom White, artist and computational design lecturer at Victoria University’s School of Design, is taking part in a group exhibition in Dehli, India, which features works created entirely by artificial intelligence. Gradient Descent is…
Gibbs Sculpture Park #1 Guardian Favourite
“We didn’t think anything manmade could compete with the grandeur of New Zealand’s natural beauty. Then we went to Gibbs Farm Sculpture Park, near Auckland,” Guardian…
Heather Morris on the Books That Have Inspired Her
At first, New-Zealand-born Heather Morris hadn’t intended on writing a novel. When Morris first struck up a friendship with an elderly man named Ludwig Sokolov, she had imagined his incredible story as a screenplay. Sokolov…
New Zealand Artists on Show in London
As a season of summer blockbuster exhibitions come to a close in London, autumn is hot on its heels in September, with a range of shows opening in the capital’s biggest cultural establishments. New…
Adapting Ruth Park’s Novels for the Stage
New Zealand-born author Ruth Park’s novel, The Harp in the South caused an uproar in 1948 for its portrayal of working-class life. Now, the Sydney Theatre Company has turned it into an epic stage…
Comic Thom Monckton Embodies Art of Laughter
“Thom Monckton has demonstrated what an outstanding physical comedian he is during several previous Fringe visits. In The Pianist he used his gangling frame and rubbery face to puncture the pomposities of classical music….
Neil Finn and Son Liam Get Dreamy on Lightsleeper
“Lightsleeper is the result of another crowded house at the Finn residence. The album principals, father Neil and son Liam, get the rest of the family involved – mother Sharon, son Elroy, nephew Harper…
Dreaming of Miles Humphreys-Designed Cempedak
New Zealand-born Bali-based architect Miles Humphreys’ 20-villa resort on the private Indonesian island of Cempedak, is one of 10 hotels Wallpaper magazine editors list as having them “longing for island life”. “Together with Balinese architects…
Connan Mockasin Announces LP and Film Project
“It’s been a little while since we’ve heard from he has emerged with no small amount of ambitious projects,” Rob Hakimian writes for online music and culture…
Wes Anderson-Like Cool in New Zealand
“An Instagram account dedicated to photos of locations that bear an uncanny resemblance to a stylised Wes Anderson film set – think balanced symmetry, pastel facades and cinematic setups – has contributions from all…
Miranda Harcourt on “The Changeover” And Whānau Values In NZ
“As a sought-after acting coach, Miranda Harcourt has worked with numerous major talents, including Nicole Kidman for her Oscar-nominated performance in Lion” and her “award-winning performance on HBO’s Big Little Lies. Together with her…
Michael Brett Draws on Bram Stoker for Ballet Score
The task of piecing together the music for the West Australian Ballet production of Dracula has fallen to the company’s Auckland-born music coordinator, Michael Brett. The assignment extended to Brett watching the movies Polish composer…
Sam Neill Cooks up a Storm in New TV Doco
Few performers can match the easy charm of New Zealander Sam Neill either on camera or off, but he is braced for outrage in response to his latest outing, as presenter of a History…
Neil and Liam Finn Video Premieres
Despite its young cast, Neil and Liam Finn’s new video for guitar ballad “Anger Plays a Part” deals with grown-up problems in the real world. The single is on the duo’s new album, Lightsleeper, which is out now. In the…
