Nathaniel Lees
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Nathaniel Lees
Nathaniel Lees is a New Zealand theatre actor and director and film actor of Samoan descent, best known for film roles in ''The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'' and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' and for starring in ''Young Hercules'' as Chiron the centaur. Acting career Lees was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He was brought up in an environment where Samoan was commonly spoken, so he grew up thinking of himself as being Samoan. He got his first acting job because of "being brown", as the theatre required brown people running around on stage killing Captain Cook. Part of the audition was him walking through the door, and upon doing so, he "had the job". He is known for his role as Captain Mifune in ''The Matrix'' trilogy and his role as "Uglúk" in ''The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers''. He has also had roles on the TV series ''Young Hercules'', ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and '' Xena: Warrior Princess''. He appeared in '' 30 Days of Night' ...
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Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by population, fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region—the area governed by Auckland Council—which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, and which has a total population of . While European New Zealanders, Europeans continue to make up the plurality of Auckland's population, the city became multicultural and Cosmopolitanism, cosmopolitan in the late-20th century, with Asian New Zealanders, Asians accounting for 31% of the city's population in 2018. Auckland has the fourth largest Foreign born, foreign-born population in the world, with 39% of its residents born overseas. With its large population of Pasifika New Zealanders, the city is ...
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Power Rangers Jungle Fury
''Power Rangers Jungle Fury'' is the sixteenth season of the American television series ''Power Rangers'', and is an adaptation of ''Juken Sentai Gekiranger'', the thirty-first Japanese Super Sentai, ''Super Sentai'' series. The season premiered on February 18, 2008 as part of Jetix on Toon Disney; it would be the last season to air on both entities before the launch of Disney XD in February 2009. Synopsis For over 10,000 years, a spirit of pure evil known as Dai Shi has been locked away and safely guarded by the Pai Zhua - The Order of the Claw - a secretive Kung Fu clan. The Pai Zhua select their three top members, Jarrod, Theo Martin, and Lily Chilman, to become the new guardians of Dai Shi. Jarrod's arrogant and bullying nature led to him being excluded. Instead, a rookie named Casey Rhodes is chosen. During the initiation ceremony, Jarrod returns and attacks Master Mao, inadvertently breaking the vessel containing Dai Shi's essence as he does so. The freed Dai Shi kills Mas ...
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Albert Belz
Albert Alexander Amahou Belz (born 1973) is a New Zealand actor, writer and lecturer. Belz was born in Whakatāne. He is Māori, of Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Pokai descent. He lived in Auckland from the age of 12, then in Hamilton and Wellington. In 2012 he moved to Australia, before returning to New Zealand several years later. In 2020 he completed a master's degree in creative writing at Auckland University of Technology. His master's thesis was titled ''Scratch the Cat''. Acting career As an actor Belz has appeared in: * ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' (1995), * ''Young Hercules'' (1998) * ''Shortland Street'' (1992) * ''Rip Girls'' (2000) Writing A professional writer for television, film and theatre since 2001, Belz has written: * ''Te Maunga'', a script for theatre, first performed in 2001 * ''Awhi Tapu'', 2006, nominated for Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards. ''Awhi Tapu'' was also televised as a feature-length episode in the six-part series ''Atamira''. ...
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Māori People
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori. Initial contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted for a generation. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s, and massive land confiscations, to which ...
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Albert Wendt
Albert Tuaopepe Wendt (born 27 October 1939) is a Samoan poet and writer who lives in New Zealand. He is one of the most influential writers in Oceania. His notable works include ''Sons for the Return Home'', published in 1973 (adapted into a feature film in 1979), and ''Leaves of the Banyan Tree'', published in 1979. As an academic he has taught at universities in Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii and New Zealand, and from 1988 to 2008 was the professor of New Zealand literature at the University of Auckland. Wendt is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including twice receiving the Commonwealth Writers Prize, multiple top awards at the New Zealand Book Awards, the 2012 Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Fiction and an Icon Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand in 2018. In 2013 he was appointed a member of the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civilian honour, recognising his pivotal role in the formation of Pacific literature in English. Early life ...
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Michel Tuffery
Michael "Michel" Cliff Tuffery (born 27 May 1966) is a New Zealand artist of Samoan, Tahitian and Cook Islands descent. He is one of New Zealand's most well known artists and his work is held in many art collections in New Zealand and around the world. Early life His mother is Samoan Bula Tuffery (nee Paotonu) and his biological father was Cook Island Tahitian. His step father was Denis Tuffery, of European descent. He attended Newlands College in Wellington, and has a Diploma in Fine Arts (Hons) from the School of Fine Arts at Otago Polytechnic (1989). He lives and works in Wellington. Career One of his distinctive sculptures from 1994 is the life-sized work, entitled '' Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef 2000)'', which was constructed from flattened and riveted re-cycled corned beef tins. His work is shaped by his research into, and encounters with his Polynesian heritage while making use of Māori design. Many of his works explore colonialism and people's treatment of t ...
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Makerita Urale
Makerita Urale is a documentary director and playwright, and a leading figure in contemporary Polynesian theatre in New Zealand. She has produced landmark productions in the performing arts. She is the writer of the play ''Frangipani Perfume'', the first Pacific play written by a woman for an all-female cast. Working in different art mediums, Urale also works in film and television. She is the director of the political documentary ''Children of the Revolution'' that won the Qantas Award (2008) for Best Māori Programme. Early life Urale was born on the island of Savai'i in Samoa. The family moved to New Zealand in the 1970s where they lived in Wellington. In 2010 Urale received the Fulbright New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency at the University of Hawai’i. Biography Playwright In 2000 Urale's play ''Frangipani Perfume'' (1998) was listed Top 10 plays of the decade by literary magazine ''The New Zealand Listener''. The play was first staged at Bats Theatre in Wel ...
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Dave Fane
David Rodney Fane (born 28 December 1966) is a New Zealand actor of Samoan descent. Early life and education Fane was educated at St. Pauls College in Grey Lynn. Career Fane got into acting quite late and trained at the New Zealand Drama School Toi Whakaari, graduating with a Diploma in Acting in 1992, which he upgraded to a Bachelor of Performing Arts (Acting) in 2003. He first appeared on television in a sketch comedy show called SKITZ alongside future Naked Samoans Oscar Kightley and Robbie Magasiva. He then did the sitcom spinoff "The Semisis" in which he played the father and the minister. In 2004 he performed in a play written by Oscar Kightley and Dave Andrews called ''Niu Sila''. The play won the Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for Outstanding New Zealand Play of the Year. Fane was a founding member of Naked Samoans. He played a leading role in Sione's Wedding. Other roles include parts in The Tattooist, bro'Town, Outrageous Fortune and the lead role in Diplomatic I ...
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Oscar Kightley
Oscar Vai To'elau Kightley (born 14 September 1969) is a Samoan-born New Zealand actor, television presenter, writer, journalist, director, and comedian. He acted in and co-wrote the successful 2006 film ''Sione's Wedding''. Biography Kightley was born in 1969 in Apia, Samoa, the youngest of eight children, and was raised in his father's village of Faleatiu. He came to New Zealand after the death of his father, when he was 4 years old and was adopted by his aunt and uncle, who lived in West Auckland. He attended Rutherford College, where writing was his favourite subject. After leaving school, Kightley was a cadet at the ''Auckland Star'', and worked as a journalist for four years. "I thought that was going to be me until I retired." He moved to Christchurch in 1991 to be a presenter for the children's television show ''Life in the Fridge Exists (L.I.F.E),'' where he met Tanya and Mishelle Muagututi'a, Erolia Ifopo, and Simon Small. Professional career Small had written his ...
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Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards
The Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards were the main theatre awards in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, from 1992–2014, and have been succeeded by the Wellington Theatre Awards. Established in 1992 and sponsored by law firm Chapman Tripp, the prestigious awards were a highlight in Wellington's art and social calendar. The presentations also recognised important contributions to the arts and the community. The winners were selected by a panel of Wellington theatre critics. In 2014 Chapman Tripp ended their 22 year sponsorship due to a shift in their corporate social responsibility programme. The main theatres in Wellington such as BATS Theatre, Circa Theatre, and Downstage Theatre each had an individual ''Production of the Year'' award for their best production during the year. Notable winners Winners at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards include the most acclaimed names in New Zealand theatre. Such names include directors such as multiple winner Colin McColl (Laureate Aw ...
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Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metro area, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed. Legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century, with initial settlement by Māori iwi such as Rangitāne and Muaūpoko. The disruptions of the Musket Wars led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as Te Āti Awa by the early 19th century. Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield's New Zealand Company, in 1840. The Wellington urban area, which only includes urbanised ar ...
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Taki Rua
Taki Rua is a theatre organisation based in Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand that has produced many contemporary Māori theatre productions. Taki Rua has been going since 1983 and has had several name changes over that time including The New Depot, Depot Theatre and Taki Rua / The Depot. The full current name is Taki Rua Productions. Since inception the mission of Taki Rua has been to showcase work from Aotearoa. Because of this and the longevity of Taki Rua many significant New Zealand actors, directors, writers, designers and producers have part of the history including Riwia Brown , Nathaniel Lees, Rachel House and Taika Waititi. Background Taki Rua started in Wellington in 1983 when a group took over The Depot, a second performance space that Downstage Theatre had set up a year previously, they changed the name to the New Depot. This collective group was Colin McColl, Jean Betts, Philippa Campbell, Fiona Johnstone, Alyson Baker, Richard Mudford, Phillip Mann and John Bana ...
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