News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Hollywood hits the west coast

Hollywood hits the west coast

A charity screening of Andrew Niccol’s Simone was held in his hometown of Paraparaumu, March 24. According to father Don Niccol, Simone “cocks a snook” at Hollywood by attacking “several dearly held Hollywood clichés.”…

Dirty Deeds Earn Place on Hall of Fame

Dirty Deeds Earn Place on Hall of Fame

Oz-rockers AC/DC have been inducted to the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as one of the top five best-selling bands in U.S history. NZ drummer Phil Rudd makes up one part of…

A view from the edge: Topp Twins bring the noise

A view from the edge: Topp Twins bring the noise

NZ musicians The Topp Twins and Jenny Morris played at Melbourne’s 27th Port Fairy Folk Festival. While Morris’ act was comparatively apolitical, the Twins pointed the finger at “stupid men” starting wars at the…

Finn-less wonders

Finn-less wonders

In a review of the recently released Anthology, the Toronto Star dubs The Clean “the most important and influential New Zealand band not to include anyone with the surname Finn A fascinating primer,…

Toy Love a “clear winner”

Toy Love a “clear winner”

NZ comedy Toy Love has won the Audience Award at Portugal’s Fantasporto 2003 film festival. Says writer-director Harry Sinclair; “I’m thrilled about the award. It’s a highly respected festival, so it will certainly…

In Good Company

In Good Company

Kiwi songstress Hayley Westenra is to join a star-studded line-up, including Jose Carreras, at Wales’ prestigious Faenol Festival in August. According to organisers, Westenra’s performance is one of the most highly anticipated of the…

D4 dee-light North America

D4 dee-light North America

The D4 have unleashed their distinctive sound on the North American market, gaining thumbs-up all round. Rolling Stone: ” blitz through their blues-punk-garage-rock playbook on hyperdrive.” Chart Attack: “One of the few…

Songbird flees her cage

Songbird flees her cage

“I’m moving away from opera performance … I like to make a big occasion of it when I sing. I have performed in exotic and marvellous situations in Turkey and Korea, and in the…

FX to rule them all

FX to rule them all

The Two Towers cleaned up at the Visual Effects Society awards in L.A, winning 8 of the 9 categories for which it was nominated. Towers streaked ahead of Star Wars: Episode II to…

Best man for the job

Best man for the job

NZ-born Alexander Grant is in the director’s chair at Boston Ballet’s Grand Studio, where a performance of Ashton’s Fille is currently under production. The 77-year-old, widely regarded as “one of the great character…

Trans-Pacific Soul

Trans-Pacific Soul

NZ-based Samoan group, Pacific Soul, are building a loyal fan base in Hawaii. Star Bulletin: “The soulful foursome performs Samoan-language songs and American-style urban material with equal skill … is a great…

Peace Fest

Peace Fest

NZ feature The Price of Milk is to screen at the inaugural Kuala Lumpur World Film Festival. The festival, held in conjunction with the 13th Non-Aligned Movement Summit (NAM), is appropriately themed “Peace, Harmony,…

Give Up Your Day Job?

Give Up Your Day Job?

Otago-born Peter Lyons has the attention of the American art world, with shows scheduled for Manhattan’s Richard York Gallery and the St Botolph Club in Boston. The 42-year-old security guard works nights at Boston’s…

Saint Cruise of Taranaki

Saint Cruise of Taranaki

Tom Cruise – Taranaki’s favourite adoptive son – has come to the financial aid of a local school. The Edge radio station had offered $5,000 to whoever could get the Hollywood star on air….

On the move

On the move

Teenage singer Hayley Westenra – “the next Charlotte Church” – is making her move on the UK market. The 15-year-old has based herself in Kensington, London, and is currently recording an album for Decca…

Reel-time Direction

Reel-time Direction

NZ-born Rodney Charters (The Pretender, Roswell) is the directing force behind the latest US television sensation, 24. Described as “a heart-stopping hit,” the 24 hour-long episodes represent one day in the life of Jack…

Premium quality: South Seas art

Premium quality: South Seas art

Aotearoa-Pasifika artist Michael Tuffery talks to the ABC about recycling identity. Tuffery has recently completed an artist’s residency at Artspace Mackay in Queensland, Australia, where he ran a series of workshops for aspiring artists…

Crowe KO’s the Competition

Crowe KO’s the Competition

Empire‘s 2003 awards had a strong NZ flavour, with Russell Crowe picking up Best Actor and Peter Jackson and The Two Towers winning Best Director and Best Film. In other Crowe news, the NZ-born…

Grand Dame

Grand Dame

Dame Judith Mayhew has been elected chairperson of Scotland’s Royal Opera House, the first time the position has been held by a woman. The NZ-born high-flyer previously helmed the Corporation of London, and remains…

Animating America

Animating America

Auckland-based Flux Animation Studio has made impressive inroads to the US market via a reciprocal partnership with New York’s Hornet Inc. The companies first teamed up on Saatchi’s acclaimed Anchorville series, creating a…

Jackson cuts down

Jackson cuts down

Peter Jackson has announced his next film project and it’s not The Hobbit or King Kong. Taking a much-needed break from the epic-scale, Jackson is rumoured to be adapting medical history for the screen…

Northern exposure

Northern exposure

The Datsuns are taking their acclaimed brand of rock firepower to Canada, with shows scheduled for Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Their highly anticipated foray into North America precedes the release of their debut album…

L.A Woman

L.A Woman

After a highly successful tour of NZ, Bic Runga has moved to Los Angeles in the hope of netting new and bigger audiences. A brief but busy tour of Canada saw her open for…

Precious Guests

Precious Guests

Gollum and his maker are to share star-billing at the University of Teesside’s annual animation festival. Weta Digital’s lead animator, Jason Schleifer, will be on hand to deliver a series of lectures and workshops.

Crowd Pleaser

Crowd Pleaser

Niki Caro’s Whale Rider continues to charm international viewers, receiving audience awards at both Sundance and Rotterdam. Caro: “As far as I understand, no one’s won at both Toronto and Sundance in the same year…

Intellectual melting pot

Intellectual melting pot

Denis Dutton-led website Art & Letters Daily hailed as “a one-stop shopping catalogue of intellectual ideas” in Washington Times. The popular site is unique in its ideological range and lack of personal bias. Dutton:…

Bright Spark

Bright Spark

Chad Taylor’s Electric continues to receive great press from leading reviewers. Guardian: “The hypnotic pull of Taylor’s story lies in the zigzag dance of its forlorn characters, casting a murky, uneasy sense of doom….

Hobbits air-borne

Hobbits air-borne

Air New Zealand has launched its second “hobbit plane” with a maiden voyage to Los Angeles. The fuselage features Rings characters Aragorn and Arwen, as well as picturesque NZ scenery, in a canny marketing…

Edge-istential Cinema

Edge-istential Cinema

NZ filmmaker Andrew Niccol is again poised to ” filmgoers into audacious mind games” with his latest feature Simone. Like previous projects Gattaca and The Truman Show, Simone explores the complicity of the media…

Finn-spiration

Finn-spiration

Legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has nothing but praise for Neil Finn, who he collaborated with on Seven World’s Collide. “That experience with Neil was one of the highlights of my musical life so…

A novel life

A novel life

Margaret Birkinshaw, mother of NZ-edged novelist Fay Weldon and acclaimed author in her own right, has died aged 95. Renowned for her passion, confidence and sense of adventure, many lament her refusal to pen…

The Dream’s Not Over

The Dream’s Not Over

Neil Finn continues to promote One All abroad, with his second successful U.S tour in 6 months. Boston Globe: “Finn’s chief gift is crafting melodies that are the envy of most songwriters. His subtle…

Giving voice to the past

Giving voice to the past

Lynda Chanwai-Earle’s challenging one-woman play about growing up Chinese in NZ – Ka Shue (‘Letters Home’) – earned her a major write-up in Hawaii’s Star Bulletin. Described as a “fascinating look at a relatively…

The edge: alterative country

The edge: alterative country

NZ-born South Londoner Peter Bruntnell proves “contemporary Americana need not be reserved for Americans” with his latest alt-country album Ends of the Earth. Hartford Courant: “A deft, tastefully produced album If you have…

Jackson in heavyweight division

Jackson in heavyweight division

Accolades continue to come thick and fast for Peter Jackson, the latest being a prestigious Directors Guild of America nomination. Jackson is up against Stephen Daldry (The Hours), Rob Marshall (Chicago), and heavyweights Roman…

Big win for A Small Life

Big win for A Small Life

NZ film A Small Life won an inspiring 8 awards at the Karachi International Film Festival (Karafilm). Out of a field of over 75 films, Michael Heath’s “haunting and moving musical” was awarded Best Short Feature, Best…

Infant igenues

Infant igenues

NZ’s best-known baby-snapper, Anne Geddes, interviewed in The Baltimore Sun. “Other photographers say to me, ‘Oh, I used to take pictures of babies’ – implying that they went on to better things – but…

Literary dairy export

Literary dairy export

Sarah-Kate Lynch has forsaken editorship of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly in favour of a career in fiction, with a first novel Blessed Are the Cheesemakers. While Guardian reviewer Helen Falconer finds the book “somewhat…

Sweet as in South West

Sweet as in South West

NZ sent its biggest contingent yet to the prestigious South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival and symposium in Texas. The talented line-up comprised The Datsuns, The D4, Goodshirt, 8 Foot Sativa, PanAm and Damien…

Cruisin’ Taranaki

Cruisin’ Taranaki

Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and Gwyneth Paltrow are both currently on location in NZ. Paltrow is in Dunedin filming scenes for Christine Jeff’s adaptation of the life of Sylvia Plath, while Cruise has set…

Precious Acclaim: Two Films Tower Over Rest

Precious Acclaim: Two Films Tower Over Rest

“For the first time in a century, Hollywood was beaten in the big budget fantasy stakes. Jackson and his team delivered better special effects and better story-telling in what could be the new millennium’s…

Two Films Tower Over Rest

Two Films Tower Over Rest

The Piano and The Fellowship of the Ring both made SMH‘s list of the top 100 movies of all time. “For the first time in a century, Hollywood was beaten in the big budget…

Deco-dence in Napier

Deco-dence in Napier

“I feel as though I’ve popped a 78 on the phonograph and stepped into my grandmother’s photo album. This is the bee’s knees.” Boston Herald comes to Napier for the annual Art Deco Weekend….

Best supporting instrument

Best supporting instrument

LA Times names The Piano as one of the instrument’s most memorable cinematic tributes in the history of film. “In a category of its own is Jane Campion’s modern-day classic The Piano… [Campion is one who…

Big Ted gets bigger

Big Ted gets bigger

NZ baritone Teddy Tahu-Rhodes is receiving great acclaim as the Don to Opera Australia’s Don Giovanni. “He sings like an angel but there the resemblance ends. He does a nice line in depravity …

Pick of the critics

Pick of the critics

Peter Jackson has received a nomination for best director from the London Film Critics Circle for his work on Lord of the Rings. The prestigious awards are chosen by London reviewers and are to be presented…

We salute you

We salute you

The Datsuns’ popularity in the U.K shows no signs of diminishing. The boys from Cambridge took out Best Live Band at the New Musical Express annual showcase of rock’s best. Other winners included…

Addicted to rock

Addicted to rock

The Datsuns’ popularity in the U.K shows no signs of diminishing. The boys from Cambridge are soon to headline NME‘s annual showcase of “the forthcoming year’s thrusting new talent” in what will be their fourth U.K tour…

Couch Potato Paradise

Couch Potato Paradise

Fellowship of the Ring wins “hands down” the best DVD of 2002 according to a New York Times review. “A movie of 208 minutes takes some tall explaining, but here we develop sympathy for the notion…

In high demand

In high demand

Fresh out of London’s Royal College of Music, NZ-born Samoan Jonathan Lemalu is being widely touted as “the next big  thing in opera.” A qualified lawyer and accomplished (former) rugby player – “I kind…

Edge of the alphabet conjurer has cancer

Edge of the alphabet conjurer has cancer

SMH pays tribute to Janet Frame – “one of New Zealand’s most celebrated and enigmatic writers” – who recently revealed she is terminally ill with cancer. Frame’s biographer Michael King (Wrestling with the Angel)…

Epilogue Written to a Life of Words

Epilogue Written to a Life of Words

NZ lost one of its edgiest inhabitants with the death of Janet Frame from acute myeloid leukemia on January 29. Frame, the author of 11 novels, 5 collections of short stories, a poetry collection,…

Marketing Middle Earth

Marketing Middle Earth

“Historically isolated by geography, NZers are working to reap a publicity bonanza from , marketing their nation around the world as a destination for family tourism and ‘a second Canada’ for…

News Lexicon

News Lexicon

“The real Middle Earth” features in the annual BBC round-up of new additions to the media lexicon. The official definition: “The country formerly known as New Zealand. An NZ government minister has been appointed unofficial ‘minister for…

Taylor electrifies critics

Taylor electrifies critics

NZ writer Chad Taylor impresses international critics with his new noir novel, Electric. Pulp: “Dark, intense, fast-paced, and perceptive, both noir literary thriller and pulp crime fiction Cool, surreal and sexy – make…

Jackson: Hobbit or Wizard?

Jackson: Hobbit or Wizard?

Boston Globe: “Who would have guessed that it would take a woolly bear horror-flick director from New Zealand to restore our faith in epic moviemaking?” Praise for Peter Jackson reaches epic proportions of…