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…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
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…
Matt Arbuckle to Exhibit at Melbourne Art Fair
Auckland artist Matt Arbuckle is one of six artists featured in Grazia Australia as “most exciting emerging artists exhibiting as part of the Melbourne Art Fair.” Nicholas Carolan reports. The Melbourne…
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…
Busy Year for Artist Ronnie van Hout
Ronnie van Hout might need to learn to say no. Not only is the New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based artist about to receive the first major solo exhibition at the new Buxton Contemporary gallery in Southbank…
Ashleigh Young’s Essays Praised in New Yorker
Wellington writer Ashleigh Young’s debut essay collection Can You Tolerate This? is New Yorker-recommended summer reading. “Two things happened the first week I moved to New York, in February. I met up with a friend…
Academic Peter Fleming’s Earthy Economics
Peter Fleming, an amiable-sounding New Zealander, professes for a living at the Cass Business School at City University London. Once, business schools taught accounting, finance, and profit-and-loss. Nowadays the institutions seem to specialise in profit-IS-loss critiques…
Kimbra & DAWN’s ‘Version of Me’ A Vision of Solidarity
“When New Zealand singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Kimbra dropped her third album, Primal Heart this past spring, it proved to be a cohesive marriage of her best ideas to-date,” writes Michael Love Michael in…
Save Australia’s Ugly Animals with Zoë Bell
Australia’s Wilderness Society has launched ‘Save Ugly’ – a radical new conservation campaign to raise awareness of all the ‘ugly’ creatures that help make life possible, warts and all. To mark the launch, the society…
Leave No Trace Star Thomasin McKenzie in Bustle
“When celebrities hang out with Bustle editors, we want to give them the chance to leave their mark. Literally. So we hand them a pen, a piece of paper, a few questions, and ask…
NZ Museum Exhibition Includes Unusual Feature
New Plymouth’s Puke Ariki museum is “aiming to offer visitors a realistic glimpse of the perils the first European settlers had to endure on their voyage to the Pacific country includes an unusual feature:…
Katherine Mansfield Portrait 100 Years On
The well-known portrait of New Zealand’s greatest writer, Katherine Mansfield, is 100 years old. It was painted by the American artist Anne Estelle Rice. At that time, Mansfield and Rice were both staying in…
Bassist Matt Penman’s Collection Balanced and Fluid
Originally from New Zealand, bassist Matt Penman has lived in New York since 1995. His new collection, Good Question is reviewed by Mike Hobart for the Financial Times. According to Hobart, Good Question “features a mix…
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…
New Zealand Ad Genius On Show in Cannes
“Once again”, Down Under will be “well represented” at this year’s Cannes Lions, according to Doug Zanger writing for American trade magazine Adweek. “Going through the list of Cannes Lions winners from New Zealand and…
Berlin-Based Zac Langdon-Pole on Art Journey
Art Basel has announced that the New Zealand-born, Berlin-based artist Zac Langdon-Pole, 30, is the winner of the BMW Art Journey. An international jury unanimously selected Langdon-Pole from a shortlist of three artists whose…
Angela Tiatia Wins Coveted Australian Art Prize
Initiated last year by the independent all-girls school, Ravenswood, New Zealand-born artist Angela Tiatia has been named winner of this year’s Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize valued at $35,000 for her…
Q&A with Instapoet Star Hera Lindsay Bird
Acclaimed by the poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, as “the most arresting and original new young poet”, New Zealander Hera Lindsay Bird, 31, is one of the stars of the new generation of “Instapoets”…
Photographer Cody Ellingham Dreams in Danchi
Art director and photographer Cody Ellingham has explored over 40 “architectural giants” in Tokyo’s Danchi complex, capturing the apartments for a new series, Danchi Dreams. Ellingham’s year-long photographic survey captures the…
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…
On Stage at London’s All Points East with Lorde
New Zealand super star Lorde’s recent performance at London’s inaugural All Points East festival incited “sheer pandemonium”, according to DIY magazine. “Lorde follows on the North Stage, and proceeds to provide an…
Yoson An Cast in Mulan Live-Action Movie
“New Zealander Yosan An has joined Disney’s live-action movie Mulan as the main love interest Chen Hongui opposite Liu Yifei (also known as Crystal Liu) who is playing Hua Mulan,” reports Kylie Hemmert for…
UMO Frontman Ruban Nielson on Musical Eclecticism
In search of a new direction after three critically acclaimed psychedelic indie rock records, 38-year-old New Zealander Ruban Nielson, frontman of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, took to the road to write and record album No…
Breaking up Is Easy for Sami and van Beek
Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek’s film The Breaker Upperers has opened strongly in New Zealand after warm-hearted reviews at the South by Southwest festival in Texas. This week, their comedy opens the Sydney…
It: Chapter Two Casts Jay Ryan as Adult Ben
Auckland-born actor Jay Ryan, 36, has been cast as the adult version of Ben Hanscom in New Line’s It: Chapter Two, sources confirmed to Variety. Ryan joins Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader, who…
Artist Matthew Couper Fuses Vegas and NZ
In Matthew Couper’s exhibition, From Dust to Water, the New Zealand-born Las Vegas-based artist uses the language of symbols – skeletons and cacti, blenders and playing cards – to combine pictorial elements in witty…
Photographer Derek Henderson Is in Demand
Photographer Derek Henderson rates his career shooting fashion, travel and art photography as mediocre, but a quick look at his credentials and it’s plain to see he’s being coy. Laura Baker interviews the New…
Keisha Castle-Hughes Takes to the Boxing Ring
She shot to fame as the fierce warrior Obara Sand on Game Of Thrones. But New Zealander Keisha-Castle Hughes, 28, will now flex her acting muscles in a different kind of drama, when she…
Rambert Chief Mark Baldwin’s Final Commission
New Zealander Mark Baldwin, the “venerable” artistic director of Rambert, the UK’s leading contemporary dance company, is stepping down from the role to devote more time to choreographic work. Baldwin’s final commission “as the…
A New NYC Neighbourhood
Commissioned by the New Zealand Consulate in the USA, designer Lydia Starkey illustrated a map of all the great NZ establishments in New York. The map, titled ‘Little New Zealand – A New NYC…
Jane Campion Rewatches Her Own Classic
One of the world’s most unconventional filmmakers, New Zealander Jane Campion talks with The Guardian about the end of the patriarchy, doing away with decorum, and how losing her baby son changed her forever. Twenty-five…
Folk Singer Mel Parsons Touring US
Award-winning singer-songwriter New Zealander Mel Parsons, 36, recently performed as part of the Concerts in the Woods series in Coyle, Washington. “We are very lucky to have Mel Parsons make a stop in Coyle on…
TV Host Clarke Gayford on Fatherhood
Less than a month away from the birth – which will make Jacinda Ardern the first serving head of government since Benazir Bhutto to have a baby – television host Clarke Gayford, 40, who…
Julian Dennison Isn’t in a Hurry to Grow Up
The 15-year-old New Zealand actor Julian Dennison talks to GQ magazine about his starring role in Deadpool 2 – even though he’s not old enough to see it. Dennison is not your average teenager, if…
Pop Singer Robinson Has Nothing to Regret
New Zealand singer-songwriter Robinson, 21, has been likened to other local trailblazers who are known for leading fans along a pathway set out by their own standards while exploring and showcasing their art, Fiona…
David Metcalf Puts On Bali Indigenous Celebration
Wellington-born professional photographer David Metcalf, who is based in Bali, and Emmanuela Dewi Shinta, founder of Ranu Welum (Living Water), are the founders of the inaugural Indigenous Celebration, which was held recently over three…
Thomasin McKenzie Steals the Film in Leave No Trace
Debra Granik’s third feature, Leave No Trace, which stretches the theme of life on the margins to breaking point, is already being talked of as one of the year’s best releases, according to The…
Heartthrob KJ Apa Answers Some Tricky Questions
KJ Apa, the New Zealand import turned Riverdale star, captured hearts (and Instagram followers) when the show premiered in 2017. Riverdale was just renewed for its third season, so it looks like…
Marlon Williams Offers Something for Everyone
Christchurch-born singer-songwriter Marlon Williams is currently touring New Zealand promoting his second studio album Make Way for Love. His recent performance in Melbourne is reviewed by Eve Fisher for The Canberra Times. “The sold-out crowd…
Ngā Parirau o te Kārearea a Spectacular EP
New Zealand-born experimental producer Fis and sound artist Rob Thorne’s collaborative EP Ngā Parirau o te Kārearea, a follow up to last year’s acclaimed Clear Stones, is included in Fact magazine’s 25 best albums…
Genre-Defying Kimbra Traverses New Territory
There’s something that connects the music of Skrillex and Paul Simon – some place where these opposite ends of the musical spectrum meet. New Zealander Kimbra, 28, is sure of that. As for what…
Leave No Trace with Thomasin McKenzie Cannes Hit
“Debra Granik is the exceptional film-maker who directed Winter’s Bone in 2010, launching the career of Jennifer Lawrence, and now she returns with this deeply intelligent, complex, finely tuned and observed movie, [starring New…
Anthony McCarten Freddy Mercury Biopic Trailer Out
“The first footage of Bohemian Rhapsody will rock you,” according to Esquire magazine. Penned by New Zealand-born Anthony McCarten, the upcoming Queen biopic, starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury follows the formation of the…
Autoportrait Wins Deutsche Börse Photography Prize
The 2018 Deutsche Börse photography prize has been awarded to the New Zealander Luke Willis Thompson, 30, for Autoportrait, a film installation about the partner of Philando Castile, who was shot dead by police…
Photographer Launches Project to Prevent Bullying Against Redheads
New Zealand photographer Bianca Duimel “is hoping to change the conversation around red hair with a powerful art project.” Sarah Young reports for The Independent. “I was looking for children for…
Kim Chambers Swims Like No Other
Kim Chambers, a former ballerina who grew up on a sheep farm in the King Country has done what no other woman has yet achieved: swum the world’s most difficult ocean swim, from the…
New All Blacks Documentary “Looks Absolutely Breathtaking”
“All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks is a new six-episode series and it promises to be a belter,” writes Paul Moore in an article for Joe.ie. Narrated by the “incredibly…
Brazil Readies for Connan Mockasin
New Zealand singer-songwriter Connan Mockasin will head to Brazil in November after the release of two new albums in October. “There were some invitations to go, some almost came to fruition,…
Get Inspired by Brogan Kerrison as Glencoe
After being surrounded by music from a young age, New Zealand-born Brogan Kerrison started writing his own at age 14. Years later, in the tail end of 2016, he finally realised his dream of…
Singer Stan Walker Overhauls His Lifestyle
In the powerful documentary Stan Walker: The Fight of His Life, the New Zealand soul singer reveals his lengthy battle to get his strength back after a stomach cancer operation, and how at one…
Unique Sneak Preview for Effects Man Matt Aitken
New Zealand-born VFX supervisor Matt Aitken talks about Marvel’s “unusual” move that helped make the biggest superhero blockbuster ever, Avengers: Infinity War. Aitken’s credits included an Academy Award nomination for visual effects for 2009’s District…
Actor Julian Dennison is Firefist in Deadpool 2
Julian Dennison is living the dream. The 15-year-old actor from Lower Hutt was hand picked by Ryan Reynolds to star in Deadpool 2, which hits cinemas on 16 May. As Reynolds told the
Illustrator Andrew Archer’s Sci-Fi Vision
Self-taught illustrator and art director New Zealander Andrew Archer was commissioned by London-based publisher The Folio Society to create the cover illustration and a series of internal artworks exploring the drug-infused, psychotic scenes and…
NZ Photographer Explores Decline of Tokyo’s Ultramodern Dreams
“Japan is famed for its ultramodern cityscapes. But what happens when the ultramodern becomes old?” Photographer Cody Ellingham is using landscape photography skills developed in New Zealand to explore fading monolithic public housing projects…
The Beths Look to the Future
The Beths is an Auckland guitar pop group who recently signed to Washington DC-based Carpark Records for the release of their debut album Future Me Hates Me, due out 10 August. The band has…
