Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Picks Up Merata Doco
American director Ava DuVernay, of A Wrinkle in Time fame, has acquired the Sundance Film Festival (SFF) documentary MERATA: How Mum Decolonised the Screen. The pick-up by DuVernay’s film collective, ARRAY…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Dunedin Film Crew Gets Their Dream Job
A small team of filmmakers from Natural History New Zealand (NHNZ) has made it their mission to tell the stories of Indonesia’s orphaned orangutans in a new documentary called, Orangutan Jungle School. Cameraman Alex Hubert…
Big New Zealand Presence at Berlinale and SXSW
Ten New Zealand features and shorts including a record number by female directors will screen in official selection at the Berlin International Film Festival in February while two will feature at the SXSW Festival…
Thomasin McKenzie Reflects on Breakout Year
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, 18-year-old Wellingtonian Thomasin McKenzie reflects on her breakout year (after Debra Granik’s latest film Leave No Trace premiered at Sundance, she shot four other films), frequent comparisons…
Looking Forward to Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit
“Matthew McConaughey as a stoner poet, Hitler as an imaginary friend and Cats the movie – the third in our five-part look at 2019’s key titles takes us into strange territory,” Guardian film writes. “[Jojo…
Leave No Trace’s Thomasin McKenzie a Breakout Star
Wellington-born teenager Thomasin McKenzie is named one of the year’s “standout stars” by The Atlantic for her role as ‘Tom’ in director Debra Granik’s celebrated 2018 film, Leave No Trace. “Granik has a way of…
Peter Jackson Calls up Protégé Christian Rivers
In 2015, Peter Jackson was feeling burned out – and you could hardly blame him. The New Zealand director had just finished work on the Hobbit films, wrapping up production on his supersized fantasy…
Rising Star Thomasin McKenzie Wanted to be a Vet
When she was a young girl in New Zealand, Thomasin McKenzie wasn’t sure what she wanted to be when she grew up. But she knew what she didn’t want to be. McKenzie sits down…
Peter Jackson Wants to Restore His Gory Early Films
“It’s funny how few of the average theater-goers for Peter Jackson epics, whether it’s The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit or the upcoming Mortal Engines, realize just how debauched the director’s early career…
Rose McIver Inspired by Duchess in Christmas Role
When A Christmas Prince, starring New Zealander Rose McIver in the lead role, debuted on Netflix late last year, it became a cultural phenomenon. Sure, A Christmas Prince might have served as emotional catharsis for…
Hollywood Movies Are Keeping NZ Busier Than Ever
“Hollywood films have shot intermittently in New Zealand for decades, taking advantage of the country’s seasoned film workers, world-famous landscapes and opposite seasons. But Kiwi production veterans say they’ve never seen their crews and…
Peter Jackson Earns Rare Blue Peter Gold Badge
Sir Peter Jackson has received Blue Peter’s highest accolade – a gold badge. The Oscar-winning director, who is best known for The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit films, joins just a select…
Jason Momoa Performs Haka at Aquaman Premiere
Aquaman star Jason Momoa has wowed fans when he led a massive red carpet haka at the film’s premiere on Thursday night. Variety reports. “For the uninitiated,…
Predator Cities Fight For Survival in Mortal Engines
“Oscar winning filmmaker Peter Jackson is returning to the big screen with adventure fantasy “Mortal Engines”, a post-apolcalyptic tale of survival in his first feature film project since his award-winning adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s…
Actress Thomasin McKenzie on LA Indie Panel
Wellington-born actress Thomasin McKenzie, 18, star of Leave No Trace, recently attended the AFI Fest in Los Angeles, where she joined a panel to reflect on life in independent film. The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg…
Exploring the Planet with Phil Keoghan
National Geographic’s critically acclaimed documentary series Explorer recently returned to screens with breakthrough stories designed to magnify curiosity, innovation, news and information in its viewers. Hosted by New Zealander Phil Keoghan, the all-new 13-episode…
They Shall Not Grow Old – “Utterly Breathtaking”
“Peter Jackson and team’s painstaking restoration of first world war footage is a cinematic triumph that all but brings young British soldiers back to life,” writes film critic Mark Kermode in a review published…
Thomasin McKenzie One of Hollywood’s Rising Young Stars
New Zealand actress Thomasin McKenzie, 18, has been featured on The Hollywood Reporter’s list of “Hollywood’s Rising Young Stars”. Bryn Elise Sandberg reports. “McKenzie’s grandmother, parents and siblings are all actors,…
Production Wraps on Sam Kelly’s Savage
Wellingtonian Sam Kelly’s directorial debut Savage has now wrapped up production. The drama is inspired by the true stories of New Zealand’s street gangs and their founding members. Savage stars Australian actor Jake Ryan (The Great…
Vincent Ward’s Alien 3 a Fascinating Film
“For every glittering Hollywood project that hits cinemas, there’s a whole lot more that don’t make it,” the Guardian’s Tom Huddleston reports. Included in his top five is New Zealand-born photographer and filmmaker Vincent…
‘Anything You Can Imagine’ Recounts Quest to Film Tolkien
“Reaching the final sentence in film writer Ian Nathan’s 576-page exploration of movie director Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy requires the stoicism of Frodo and the vigor of Gandalf. So much…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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)…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Jemaine Clement Stars in New Comedy The Festival
One half of the world’s favourite (and only) digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy-folk double act, Jemaine Clement has more than a Flight of the Conchords reunion tour on his plate this year. He’s been working on getting…
Thomasin McKenzie Joins Top Gun Sequel
Kiwi actress Thomasin McKenzie joins the cast of Top Gun sequel Top Gun: Maverick opposite Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly and Miles Teller. Dave Trumbore reports for
Meet the Feebles Inspires Happytime Murders Writer
Danny Mulheron, Meet the Feebles writer, and American scriptwriter Todd Berger – for the R-rated puppet comedy, The Happytime Murders – recount almost 30 years of bad taste for an article in The Hollywood…
The Meg An “Utterly Outrageous Thrillfest”
“The Meg is Jaws turned up to 11, an over-the-top creature feature starring a 20-metre-long prehistoric killing machine that comes from the very bottom of the ocean to cause havoc…
Castle Rock Star Melanie Lynskey Loves It Creepy
Melanie Lynskey talks to Entertainment Tonight about her role on the hotly anticipated series, Castle Rock. The New Zealand-born actress opens up about why this particular type of horror –…
David Farrier Flies into the City of the Dead
“The capital city of Turkmenistan is blisteringly dry and hot, dumped in the middle of the desert. It also holds the record for the highest density of buildings made from white marble, which bounce…
Taika Waititi Joins Watts and Waltz on Venice Jury
New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi and actors Naomi Watts and Christoph Waltz join the main jury of the Venice Film Festival, which will be presided over by director Guillermo del Toro, the winner of…
Antipodean Women Deliver Summer of Laughter to UK
This summer, an influx of female antipodean standup comedians, variety acts and sitcom stars are reshaping the way Britain views New Zealand and Australia. Observer arts and media correspondent Vanessa Thorpe reports. Tempting though it…
Who is Dark Tourist Host David Farrier?
If you can’t get enough of quirky documentaries on Netflix then you might want to check out Dark Tourist, hosted by New Zealander David Farrier, suggests Caroline Westbrook writing for the UK’s Metro newspaper. This…
Fire in Cardboard City Extremely Realistic
“The clever and freewheeling nine-minute animated short Fire in Cardboard City, directed by Phil Brough, which had its US debut at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, is a mini disaster movie that…
Melanie Lynskey Stars in Stephen King Thriller
“Castle Rock is a giant basket of Easter eggs for King people, but for the rest of us it’s a decent show layered with supernatural secrets waiting to be decoded,” according to John…
Andrew Niccol’s Truman Show 20 Years On
Jim Carrey, Peter Weir, New Zealand-born screenwriter Andrew Niccol, Laura Linney, and Sherry Lansing thought their paranoid dramedy The Truman Show seemed absurd – until life began to imitate art. In the 1990s, as Canadian…
Anna Paquin: “You Don’t Do It for Fame, Finance or Glory”
“Sitting down with Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge, Paquin discussed the release of her newest independent movie at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.” Tara Bitran reports for
Taika Waititi Reveals Details of ‘Jojo Rabbit’
New Zealand “director Taika Waititi has revealed more details of his upcoming projects Jojo Rabbit and Bubbles.” Orlando Parfitt reports for Screen Daily. “Waititi told Screen at the Karlovy Vary Film…
Thomasin McKenzie a Force of Nature
Might Debra Granik’s latest film launch New Zealand actress Thomasin McKenzie into the same stratosphere as the Oscar-winning Jennifer Lawrence? Vanity Fair investigates. Granik’s work feels like a salve to the kinetic blockbuster that fuels…
Yellow Is Forbidden Auckland Premiere
After premiering to fantastic reviews at Tribeca Film Festival, New York, Pietra Brettkelly’s Yellow Is Forbidden will be shown in Auckland at the upcoming New Zealand International Film Festival. “Kiwi director…
New Netflix Show for Tickled’s David Farrier
“If you’re a weird-documentary fetishist, you’re probably already obsessed with Tickled, an unbelievably strange saga featuring underground ‘tickle cells’ and a scheming, shadowy figure who spends thousands of dollars to ruin people’s lives,” Andrew…
J-Law-Like Rise of Thomasin McKenzie
This January, Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik returned to Sundance, to premiere her follow-up narrative feature, Leave No Trace. And she again brought with her a precocious talent in a role that could be…
Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement’s Latest: Wellington Paranormal
“Police officers try to solve New Zealand’s most absurd paranormal and supernatural cases in Waititi and Clement’s new comedy series Wellington Paranormal,” which is the first of a handful of continuations of Taika Waititi…
Slow Down With Low-Key Drama ‘Leave No Trace’
“Purposefully slow cinema can be a welcome respite from the craziness in both our world and multiplexes,” writes Linsey Bahr in an article for The Daily Democrat. “That is exactly…
Jane Campion’s the Piano Still Hits All The Right Notes
“Rereleased after 25 years, this literary work about a mute woman in 19th-century New Zealand remains full of extraordinary images and enigmas,” writes Peter Bradshaw in a review in The…
Jane Campion on Why She Went Back to the Lake
Top Of The Lake: China Girl’s Jane Campion talks to film magazine Screen Daily about the importance of telling stories from a female point of view. “Motherhood is a very underwritten topic, especially in those…
London’s Calling in First Trailer for Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines
The first full trailer for Peter Jackson-produced Mortal Engines has been released, reports Abid Rahman for The Hollywood Reporter. In the trailer the city of London…
