Glass Artist Ruth Allen off to Float in Venice
A glass dress created by New Zealand multi-media artist Ruth Allen is one of among 30 designs to feature in the international Glass Art Society’s Fashion Show being held in the old glass capital of…
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Filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly Celebrates Guo Pei
“When I was little, I didn’t know what fashion was. The word didn’t exist,” Guo Pei tells Whakatane-born documentarian Pietra Brettkelly in Yellow Is Forbidden, a new film charting the Chinese designer’s fierce ambition…
Fire Spinner Hale Wilson Showcases Moves in Darwin
For New Zealand-born Samoan Hale Wilson, the art of fire spinning honours his culture and family history at the same time as looking cool. Wilson has carried his Samoan fire knife to Auckland, Brisbane and…
World Famous Parris Goebel On Her Trip to the Top
She’s made her mark as a fierce and unstoppable choreographer but it’s New Zealander Parris Goebel’s work ethic and ability to overcome barriers that has allowed her to emerge as a true icon. Fiona…
What We Do in the Shadows Gets TV Reboot
A long-in-the-works half-hour television comedy based on the 2014 mockumentary horror film What We Do in the Shadows, co-written and co-directed by and starring Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, is slated to premiere in…
Andrew Niccol’s Latest Film Smart and Stylish
Clive Owen and Amanda Seyfried star in Anon, a “timely Netflix-bound cyberthriller from The Truman Show and In Time creator New Zealander Andrew Niccol”. Stephen Dalton reviews the film for The Hollywood Reporter. “Owen looks…
John Cavill Wins Emmy for Scars of Nanking
New Zealand cinematographer John Cavill has won an Emmy – Outstanding Cinematography – for American/Chinese co-production Scars of Nanking at the Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. In
Zico O’Neill Captures Life off the Beaten Track
Photographer Zico O’Neill is known for his breathtaking, desaturated photography of little-visited locations far from his home in New Zealand. Since 2010, he’s made a point to spread his wings and travel, from four…
Sam Rockwell, ScarJo Join Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit
After breaking out in a major way in Hollywood by directing the critically acclaimed action-comedy Thor: Ragnarok, New Zealander Taika Waititi’s next film is going to…
Gang of Youths’ Max Dunn Talks to Rolling Stone
Founded in Sydney six years ago, Gang of Youths, which includes New Zealander Max Dunn on bass, are getting their share of attention in America after releasing two hit albums in Australia: 2015’s The…
Exhibition of Colliding Worlds on in London
Work by ill-fated illustrators aboard Captain James Cook’s first journey to the Pacific sit alongside revelatory images by a Polynesian high priest in a haunting exhibition on now at the British Library in London. “The…
Luke Willis Thompson in Running for Turner Prize
Fijian-New Zealand artist Luke Willis Thompson, 30, is one of four candidates vying for this year’s Turner Prize, a shortlist, according to the Financial Times, focusing on conflict, crime and state-sponsored violence.
Russian Film Fest Prize for Kieran Charnock
New Zealander Kieran Charnock, 26, has won best actor at the Moscow International Film Festival for his role in the independent film Stray. The award was presented by Nastassja Kinski.
Marlon Williams Accompanies Wild Wild Country
Despite working with a “micro-budget”, music supervisor Chris Swanson weaves an inspired sonic accompaniment to the Netflix hit Wild Wild Country, a documentary about the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers….
DIY Picks Matthew Young’s New Single
Every weekday, Britain’s DIY magazine brings you one essential new release to get obsessed with. This recent ‘Neu Pick’ comes from Auckland-based Matthew Young. Young is releasing new EP Fruit on 25 May, and its…
Scott Dixon Competes on American Ninja Warrior
New Zealand four-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon will enter the realm of reality TV when he auditions in Indianapolis this week for American Ninja Warrior. Dixon, 37, nicknamed “The Iceman,” thought it sounded fun when…
Rube Goldberg Fan Joseph Herscher Shares Tricks
New Zealander Joseph Herscher’s foolproof way to roast turkey involves an axe, a back massager, various magnets, catapults, and a small dog. His Rube Goldberg machines to facilitate power napping and to remove milk…
Kimbra Displays Impressive Range On ‘Primal Heart’
“If there’s any musical justice, Kimbra’s third studio album should be the one that finally catapults the New Zealander to the acclaim she deserves,” writes Mark Kennedy in a review of her latest album…
UMO Frontman Ruban Nielson Keeps it Dumb
On 2015’s Multi-Love, New Zealand-born Ruban Nielson, 38, frontman of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, saw his personal life laid out and analysed. Now, on the band’s fourth LP Sex & Food, he’s trying to keep…
Roger Donaldson On ‘Sleeping Dogs’ And ‘Cocktail’
“Cocktail, No Way Out, The Bounty, Species, The World’s Fastest Indian, Dante’s Peak – director Roger Donaldson’s resume is brimming with crowd-pleasing Hollywood movies, some of them seminal,” writes Simon Thompson in an article…
US-Based Radio Exec Andrew Jeffries Loves LA
Private shows by the likes of Ed Sheeran and Coldplay are all in a day’s work for Los Angeles based New Zealander Andrew Jeffries, who is executive vice president for programming across the West…
Sweet Country’s Sam Neill Marks Milestone
As is the case with many a beloved screen actor, everyone has their own mental image of Sam Neill, Karen Han writes for the Village Voice. For some, it’s of the prickly paleontologist Dr…
Jamie McClennan Takes His Family on Tour
New Zealand-born songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jamie McClennan and Scottish singer Emily Smith have been making country folk music together for 15 years. Now they tour for the first time with their two young children…
Neil Finn to Join Fleetwood Mac
Legendary band Fleetwood Mac has announced that Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will replace departing guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. The band’s firing of Buckingham over the group’s…
Photographer Michael Anderton Moves to Kildare
New Zealander Michael Anderton, who has set up a photographic gallery in Allenwood, has said that moving to the West Kildare village inspired him to develop his photography hobby. As a younger man he lived…
Lorde Scripts a Party and Then Brings It
Lorde’s “fast-paced, yet emotionally resonant show at TD Garden” in Boston “was a superlative showcase” for her second album Melodrama, Maura Johnston writes in a review of the recent concert for The Boston Globe. “Lorde,…
Brent Williams Charts Journey Through Depression
Ten years after his symptoms first took hold of him, New Zealander Brent Williams has written a graphic novel that is part memoir and part self-help book. Out of the Woods: A Journey Through…
Karl Urban in Dubai for Comic Con
New Zealand actor 45-year-old Karl Urban “is basically Comic Con personified”, according to Arab News, “with a deep sci-fi fantasy pedigree running from Xena: Warrior Princess through Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Lord of the…
NZ’s Global Winners Celebrated in New Series Dream Catchers
Many Kiwis who touch down in the UK for their OE or holidays “end up staying and living their dreams on the other side of the world.” Inspiring series Dream…
Contesting New Zealand’s Discovery
A history book by New Zealander Winston Cowie called, Conquistador Puzzle Trail, which suggests that the Spanish or Portuguese may have discovered New Zealand before the Dutchman Abel Tasman is causing a new stir….
Ruban Nielson and Taika Waititi Talk NZ Roots
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Nielson and filmmaker Taika Waititi come together over Skype to talk #PolynesianExcellence, and how their New Zealand roots help them keep it real, with Dazed magazine’s…
Hanging out with India Yelich in New York City
You’d think that spending your adolescence watching your sister – in this case, Lorde – become a world-famous pop princess might make you insecure, but 19-year-old India Yelich says no: She swears she won’t…
Ngaio Marsh’s Inspector Alleyn Continues to Impress
Dame Ngaio Marsh’s skilfully completed “continuation novel”, set in a New Zealand hospital, is an exquisite reminder of the brilliance of Marsh’s London detective Inspector Alleyn, Sophie Hannah writes in a review of the…
Albert Mateni Brings the Hearts of Men to Life
New Zealand-born Tongan, Albert Mateni, 26, aims to inspire Pacific youth with his play, Hearts of Men set to debut on 5-14 April at the Mangere Arts Centre in Auckland. Affected by the suicide rate…
NZ Indie Film STRAY Selected for Moscow International Film Festival
“Independent New Zealand feature film, STRAY, has made history by becoming the first New Zealand feature film ever to be selected for the world’s second oldest film festival – the…
Tami Neilson Drops New “Sassy, brassy soul number” ‘Stay Outta My Business’
“Silver Scroll-winning soul artist Tami Neilson has shared a brassy new tune Stay Outta My Business and announced her forthcoming album Sassafrass! will be dropping this June ahead of a…
Opiuo to Take 20-Piece Syzygy Orchestra to Colorado
New Zealand-born, Australian-based electro-funk DJ Opiuo (Oscar Davey-Wraight) will travel to Colorado for a headlining show at Red Rocks on 21 April. After last year’s Red Rocks performance before Emancipator, where it was hard to…
Soul Singer Jordan Rakei Caters Directly to Fans
Jordan Rakei’s first SXSW appearance was also his first time setting foot in the state of Texas, one of the few areas of the world he had yet to visit. Born in New Zealand,…
How Flight of the Conchords Took Off
Few comedians ever play London’s O2 Arena and fewer still manage three nights in a row. Those who do tend to have some things in common: a relatable observational style, limited creative ambition and…
Poet Ashleigh Young to Open Bathurst Festival
Wellington author, poet and literary editor Ashleigh Young will open the Bathurst Writers’ and Readers’ Festival on May 4. The festival consists of three days of live streamed sessions direct from the Sydney Writers’ Festival…
Corpses and Clues in Ngaio Marsh’s Posthumous Novel
“Roderick Alleyn, the ineffably posh Scotland Yard detective created by Dame Ngaio Marsh, returns for a posthumous outing with the help of Stella Duffy, herself a distinguished crime writer,” Andrew Taylor writes…
Actor Sam Neill Stars in His First Western
Sam Neill’s acting career has broken the 80-film barrier. In his most recent film, Sweet Country, the New Zealander plays a missionary making a new life for himself on the Australian frontier in the…
Helen Clark Film Reveals a Shadowy World at the UN
Filmmaker Gaylene Preston’s documentary My Year With Helen playing in Australia this month provides a happy and timely reminder that before there was Jacinda Ardern, there was Helen Clark. The extraordinary post-parliamentary career of former…
Alien Weaponry’s Furious Debut Tū Out in June
Three teenagers from the tiny Northland town of Waipu have managed to capture imaginations with their unique thrash metal sound and commanding live performances. Now, Alien Weaponry is ready to release…
Chasing Great a Universally-Appealing Sports Doco
Justin Pemberton and Michelle Walshe’s documentary Chasing Great, about world-champion All Blacks captain, Richie McCaw, “proves surprisingly accessible to non-fans, and a well-articulated look at some of the mental processes behind sports success,”…
C.K. Stead’s Latest Novel Masterfully Structured
“The Necessary Angel’s literary preoccupations are familiar territory for Stead, a distinguished novelist, poet and critic who was for many years professor of English at the University of Auckland,” Financial Times correspondent Zoë…
True Blood Lead Anna Paquin Stars as PR Maven
New Zealand-raised Anna Paquin is returning to television. The True Blood and Alias Grace star is set to appear in the upcoming dramedy Flack. The limited series, which is co-produced by Paquin and her…
Francis Upritchard Finds New Ways to Break the Norm
New Zealand-born artist Francis Upritchard is all about creating art that leaves behind societal norms, according to Jesse Oleson writing for The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Art is supposed to be fun,” London-based Upritchard says. “Work…
Comedian Deb Filler Does It Her Way in Yiddish
New Zealand comedian Deb Filler recreates 50 years of chart-toppers and pop icons in her solo show I Did it My Way in Yiddish (in English). Toronto-based Filler performed the show at this year’s…
Taika Waititi to Play Version of Imaginary Hitler
Whenever Fox Searchlight Pictures ends up releasing New Zealander Taika Waititi’s satire Jojo Rabbit, it will give viewers the chance to see a version of Adolf Hitler they most likely never have before. IndieWire…
Kimbra Finds New Version of Self in Primal Heart
New York-based New Zealand-born “self-actualised star and feminist pop warrior” Kimbra, 27, is back with a new album and another version of herself, according to Interview magazine’s Erica Russell. The glossy, neon sheen of Primal…
Best of Flight of the Conchords – Favourite Moments
“Is it the accents? Is it the hirsuteness? Is it the manner in which they stumble around an awkward social situation while singing a lovely / silly ditty? Just what is it that makes…
Lorde’s Portland Performance “As Intimate as Her Dinner Table”
New Zealand pop poet Lorde, born Ella Yelich-O’Connor, manages to make even the largest venues feel intimate, writes Sararosa Davies in a review of the singer’s Portland concert in The…
Broods’ Georgia Nott Talks The Venus Project
In response to a lack of female representation on stage and in the studio, Georgia Nott – who most people will know as part of the New Zealand music duo Broods – has released…
Chasing Great – An Ode to New Zealand’s All Blacks
“Justin Pemberton and Michelle Walshe’s documentary Chasing Great follows All Blacks team captain Richie McCaw through his final season,” writes Chris Packham in a review for the Village Voice. “Even if…
Witch Rockers HEX Are Here to Curse the Patriarchy
Wellington folk metal band HEX have “got the ‘slightly spooky dark rock’ formula down pat, but aren’t afraid to mix it up with a bit of sneering garage rock, down-tempo riot grrrl, or big,…
