iZombie and Rose McIver Still Winning Fans
Season three of the “enjoyable series” iZombie, “an adaptation of the DC Comic of the same name and starring New Zealand-born actress Rose McIver, 28, has continued to get the basics right while expanding…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Producer David Metcalf’s Indonesian Labour of Love
Produced by photographer New Zealander David Metcalf and directed by Indonesian filmmaker Erick Est, documentary Journey to Long Saan is a three-year labour of love that explores themes related to Kenyah Dayak tribe elder…
NZ a World Power of High-End Filmmaking
“Breathtaking landscapes have long made New Zealand a prime filming location. Where else, after all, can one find alpine glaciers side by side with subtropical seacoasts?” entertainment trade magazine Variety writes. “Plus, the country’s highly…
Indie Auteur Taiki Waititi’s Takes on Growing Up
Masculine society is a fragile and insecure thing, and few writers or directors understand that more than New Zealand-born filmmaker Taika Waititi, according to Leigh Monson writing for Substream Magazine. “Once best known for writing…
Director Florian Habicht on His Latest Film
Florian Habicht’s unconventional approach to filmmaking has won him critical acclaim and kept discerning film fans entertained for more than a decade. For his latest project, the Berlin-born New Zealander ventures into the creepy,…
Actor Tim Kano Happy to Call Melbourne Home
For a New Zealander who has lived, worked, studied, and travelled abroad, Neighbours star Tim Kano, 29, is happy to call Melbourne home, Catherine Nikas-Boulos writes for the Daily Telegraph. The former Wellingtonian, who plays…
Jane Campion’s China Girl is Unforgettable
“Is it a movie? Is it a TV show? Whatever you call it, Jane Campion’s latest is as beautiful and soul-stirring as anything you’ll see this year,” David Ehrlich writes in a “grade A”…
Roger Donaldson’s Doco McLaren Filling the Gaps
An Australian who emigrated to New Zealand in 1965, Roger Donaldson, 71, cut his teeth in documentaries and TV before launching into a career in feature films. His first feature was Sleeping Dogs in…
Jane Campion Says Cannes Needs All-Female Juries
New Zealander Jane Campion, 63, has just shown the full six hours of her new series, Top Of The Lake: China Girl to audiences at Cannes. At the festival, Campion bemoaned that, just three…
KJ Apa Speaks About His Coveted Archie Role
New Zealand-born actor KJ Apa, 19, star of television series Riverdale, talks with Los Angeles Confidential about his comic book romance, that fiery red hair, and what it’s like having ‘90s icon parents. When a…
Cliff Curtis Signs On For Lead Role in Avatar Sequel
Cliff Curtis will join James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar sequels in a lead role. “The New Zealand-born actor will play Tonowari, who is the leader of the Metkayina, the reef people clan,” writes Anthony D’Alessandro…
Sam Neill Speaks about Tiny Rowland TV Role
New Zealand actor Sam Neill stars in Channel Nine’s television miniseries about Australian businessman Alan Bond’s life and said he was sure people would enjoy watching the “rollercoaster” ride. “You’re familiar with the story of…
Filmmaker Florian Habicht Gets Spooked
For his latest documentary, Spookers, which just made its world premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, New Zealander Florian Habicht, 42, set his sights on something that has become an unlikely…
Why Lorde Is a Great Dancer
Lorde’s unpolished dancing has drawn a mixture of criticism and backhanded praise from the public and press throughout her career. Perhaps it’s more accurate – and less patronising – to view the way she…
Pork Pie Reboot Hits Australian Theatres
New Zealand’s Pork Pie screened recently as part of the Gold Coast Film Festival and is reviewed by Jake Tired for Australian entertainment news site, The Iris ahead of the film’s release in Australian…
Taika Waititi Confirms Thor Cameo
“With a very popular trailer already out, Marvel fans probably thought they already knew everything there was to know about the cast of Thor: Ragnarok,” according to…
Top of the Lake Season Two More Accessible
Critics loved Top of the Lake, New Zealander Jane Campion’s dark crime drama, starring Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss as Robin Griffin, the police detective tasked with finding out why a…
Rose McIver on the Many Brains of IZombie
For the past two seasons of The CW series iZombie, star Rose McIver has managed to enjoy relative anonymity when the cameras stopped rolling. Thanks to the deathly pale zombie complexion and platinum wig…
First Thor: Ragnarok Trailer Released
The first trailer for Thor: Ragnarok, which was directed by Taika Waititi, has been released, as reported in an article in The Guardian. “Following on from the events of Avengers: Age…
Phil Keoghan’s LE RIDE Tours USA
Phil Keoghan, New Zealander extraordinaire, host of ten-time Emmy Award-winning show The Amazing Race, travels the U.S. in April to screen his critically-acclaimed documentary feature film LE RIDE. LE RIDE recently…
Riverdale Is a Guilt-Free Pleasure to Watch
“‘Archie got hot – he has abs now!’ An actual line in the pilot episode of Riverdale,” which is Toronto Star columnist Shinan Govani’s latest innocent viewing pleasure, he admits. The lead role of…
Ambition Got Niki Caro to Where She Is Today
Picturing yourself as a successful movie director – then getting there – is notoriously tough for a woman in the United States, the epicentre of the movie industry. For a young woman in New…
Nathalie Boltt Joins KJ Apa in Riverdale
Wellington-based actress Nathalie Boltt has been missing fish and chips on the beach with her husband and son. The Riverdale star (she plays Penelope Blossom) is originally from South Africa but its her adopted…
Deliberating on the Taika-Esqueness of Thor
Hunt for the Wilderpeople director Taika Waititi talks to the Guardian about joining the Marvel universe with his interpretation of Thor, which is due out in the United States in November. As far as whetting…
Meet The Rock’s Body Double Kelly Mcnaught
Kawerau chef Kelly Mcnaught was serving up food at a Gold Coast café when a customer asked if he could photograph him. “Then I got a Facebook message from an agent asking if I’d…
Clive James on Sam Neill’s Richly Sane Career
“Performers do best to do their best every time. By no paradox, it is easier to maintain this attitude if you are not being treated as a deity,” Australian broadcaster and critic Clive James…
Annie Goldson’s Film Unravels Dotcom Drama
Kim Dotcom’s personal story is Shakespearean in its ups and downs, says New Zealander Annie Goldson, the director behind a documentary that has just had its premiere in the United States. When flamboyant internet entrepreneur Dotcom…
Why Filmmaker Niki Caro Travels
Notions of “home” and “away” get blurry when you’re a citizen of the world. So what does it mean to travel? For Niki Caro, Wellington-born writer and the director of soon-to-be-released The Zookeeper’s Wife,…
It’s Time to Rethink Peter Jackson’s King Kong
“History has been too unkind to which should be remembered not as lumbering and mindless, but as majestic and mesmerising,” according to critic Chris Hartwell writing for…
Niki Caro in Warsaw for Holocaust Biopic
Hollywood stars, including New Zealand director Niki Caro, recently hit the red carpet in Warsaw for a gala screening of a film about a Polish couple who risked their lives to hide hundreds of…
KJ Apa Shines on the Big Screen
Currently starring as the lead in hit television series Riverdale, which features characters from the Archie comic-books series, teen sensation New Zealander KJ Apa makes his big-screen debut in the moving tale A Dog’s…
Warner’s Meg Helps Launch Kumeu Film Studio
New Zealand’s newest production facility, the Kumeu Film Studio is to launch thanks to a three-way partnership built around the China-Hollywood co-produced, action-adventure film Meg, according to an exclusive story in Variety. The studio facility…
John Gilbert and Dan Lemmon Win at Oscars
Two New Zealanders have won at the 89th Academy Awards: John Gilbert won Best Editing for his work on the WWII drama Hacksaw Ridge and Dan Lemmon won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects…
John Feeney’s Kenojuak Returns to Screen in US
Ngaruawahia-born John Feeney’s 1964 short film Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak, about Kenojuak Ashevak, the first Inuit woman involved with a printmaking co-operative in Cape Dorset, Canada, was recently shown at the Brunnier Art Museum in…
Connecting with Director Tusi Tamasese
A gripping film about redemption and the relationships that can ultimately lead to a fresh start, One Thousand Ropes left audiences eager to question Samoan New Zealand director Tusi Tamasese after its world premiere…
Taika Waititi named New Zealander of the Year
“Hunt for the Wilderpeople director Taika Waititi has been named as the 2017 New Zealander of the Year,” as reported on TV3.ie. “I just found out the news. Wow, amazing. Thank you so…
The Inland Road Makes for a Satisfying Debut
“In the stunned aftermath of a fatal road accident, a directionless 16-year-old half-Maori runaway drifts with unpredictable consequences into the lives of strangers in New Zealander Jackie van Beek’s assured first feature, The Inland…
Disney Coup for Director Niki Caro
The new live-action Mulan remake has secured Whale Rider director Niki Caro to helm. According to online women’s magazine, Bustle, “The Hollywood Reporter issued the reminder that Caro will be only Disney’s…
Celebrity Endorsements Around Every Corner
She lives in one of the most picturesque and exclusive areas in California – Montecito. But even media mogul Oprah Winfrey, 63, was blown away by New Zealand’s stunning views, while taking a break…
KJ Talks Candidly about the World of Archie
Welcome to the scandalous, abs-filled, hormonal world of Riverdale. The CW teen drama has taken a decidedly broodier and definitely sexier take on the Archie comics, and a lot of that has to do…
Phil Keoghan’s Le Ride Screens at US Festival
New Zealander Phil Keoghan, host of the popular television show The Amazing Race, will open the American Documentary Film Festival on 31 March with Le Ride, which had its world premiere at…
Michael Jackson Chimp Movie Attracts Taika Waititi
Thor: Ragnarok director New Zealander Taika Waititi has signed on to direct Bubbles, a stop-motion animated film about Michael Jackson’s pet chimpanzee, alongside Emmy Award-winning Mark Gustafson. “It’s an idea that fascinates me and one…
Frankie Adams the Unfindable Expanse Actress
The men behind adapting the popular Expanse novels to the screen faced a massive challenge in season two – finding the perfect actor to play beloved favourite, Bobbie Draper. And they found her, in…
One Thousand Ropes Premieres in Berlin
“Childbirth becomes a powerful vessel for renewal in this deeply felt drama about a Samoan former fighter atoning for the violence that divided his family and exiled him to solitude,” the Hollywood Reporter’s David…
Sundance Grand Jury Winner Stars Melanie Lynskey
The presciently titled I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, starring New Plymouth-born actor Melanie Lynskey, pulled off a surprise victory at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Awards ceremony taking the grand…
Taika Waititi Talks Thor: Ragnarok
“It came as a large surprise to many when Marvel announced that it would be handing Thor: Ragnarok’s directorial reigns over to New Zealand film director, actor and comedian Taika Waititi,” writes Tiny Diapana…
Mary Kills People Star Jay Ryan Takes the Risk
Auckland-born actor Jay Ryan, 35, best known for his roles as Jack Scully in the Australian soap opera Neighbours and Vincent Keller in the American television series Beauty & the Beast, now has a…
Melanie Lynskey Teams up with Elijah Wood
New Zealand-born actor Melanie Lynskey, 39, stars alongside Elijah Wood in crime thriller I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, which premiered at this month’s Sundance Film Festival. Collider’s Matt Goldberg reviews…
KJ Apa’s Dark Take on Comic Book Archie
Star of American television show Riverdale, New Zealand actor KJ Apa’s take on the high school sophomore Archie goes far deeper than the inevitable love triangle situating him as the “good guy” between BFFs…
Trio of Films to Screen at Berlin Film Festival
Three New Zealand films will screen at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. Poi E: The Story of Our Song and new-comer, The Inland Road, directed by Jackie van Beek, will both feature in the Generation…
Posters Inspired by Taika Waititi’s Hit Film
For Little White Lies’ latest creative brief, the film magazine asked its readers to design a wanted poster inspired by Taika Waititi’s “charming” 2016 comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople. “We were blown away by the standard…
Long-Lasting Significance Of LOTR Trilogy
On the 15th anniversary of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, actors Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen reflect on the trilogy’s indelible impression. The film series was…
Jemaine Clement’s David Bowie-Ode Best in Moana
“He may appear in just one scene, but Tamatoa, the glam rock crustacean voiced by Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement, is quite possibly Moana’s most appealing character,” according to Slate’s Marissa Martinelli. “Now you…
Shortland Street’s KJ Apa Hits US TV Screens
Archie’s certainly not a kid anymore. Or at least not the same kid we knew from the old Archie comics, according to USA Today. He’s a hot, ripped 16-year-old, and a New Zealander –…
Hunt For The Wilderpeople Best Movie of 2016
Hunt for the Wilderpeople has topped Empire Magazine’s list of top movies (released in the UK) of 2016. “To say that Hunt For The Wilderpeople was a surprise is perhaps overstating it. Anyone…
Moana – A Magical Addition to Disney’s Collection
“Moana is both a revival of the Disney classic and a bold step away from their time honored tales,” writes Meredith Placko in a review for Comicbook.com. “While she may be the daughter…
