Nancy Brunning (1971 – 16 November 2019) was a New Zealand actress, director, and writer who won awards in film and television and made a major contribution to the growth of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

in the arts. Brunning was of

descent from the tribes of

Ngati Raukawa ''Ngati'' is a 1987 New Zealand feature film directed by Barry Barclay, written by Tama Poata and produced by John O'Shea. Production ''Ngati'' is of historical and cultural significance in New Zealand as it is the first feature film written an ...

and Ngai Tuhoe. She won the best actress award at the New Zealand Film Awards for her lead role in the film '' What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?'' (1999), the sequel to cult classic ''

Once Were Warriors ''Once Were Warriors'' is New Zealand author Alan Duff's bestselling first novel, published in 1990. It tells the story of an urban Māori family, the Hekes, and portrays the reality of domestic violence in New Zealand. It was the basis of a 1 ...

''. In 2000, she won the Best Actress in Drama award at the New Zealand Television Awards for her lead role in the television series ''Nga Tohu''. She was the acting coach for the Oscar-nominated short film ''

Two Cars, One Night ''Two Cars, One Night'' is a 2004 New Zealand short film written and directed by Taika Waititi. The film is about two young boys and a girl meeting in the carpark of a rural pub in Te Kaha, New Zealand. What at first seems to be a relationshi ...

'' directed by

Taika Waititi Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at t ...

. According to friend and frequent collaborator

Temuera Morrison Temuera Derek Morrison (born 26 December 1960) is a New Zealand actor and Singer who first gained recognition for his role as Dr. Hone Ropata on the soap opera ''Shortland Street''. He gained critical acclaim for his starring role as Jake "The ...

, she "paved the way" for Māori actors in New Zealand.

Biography

Brunning grew up in Taupo and attended Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School from 1990, graduating in 1991 with a Diploma in Acting. She lived in

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 me ...

for most of her life. After graduating, she played many leading roles in theatre, film and television. In 1992, she won the award for Most Promising Female Actor at the

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, ...

for the all Māori women production ''Nga Wahine''. She also became one of the most well known faces on New Zealand television in the role of

Jaki Manu The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the New Zealand soap opera '' Shortland Street'' in 1992, by order of first appearance. Marj Neilson Marj Neilson was the clinic's first receptionist and was portrayed by Elizabeth ...

in the soap

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

and other programmes. In 1994, she appeared in the classic '' Nga Tangata Toa'' play written by

Hone Kouka Hone Vivian Kouka is a New Zealand playwright. He has written 13 plays, which have been staged in New Zealand and worldwide including Canada, South Africa, New Caledonia and Britain. Kouka's plays have won multiple awards at the Chapman Tripp T ...

and directed by Colin McColl. Brunning also appeared on stage in major productions for the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, the biggest arts event in the country, in productions such as ''Hide ‘n’ Seek'' (1992) (NZ and Australian tour) and ''

Waiora Waiora is a trio of indigenous Māori musicians from New Zealand. The three members of Waiora are Horomona Horo, Korey Atama, and Joshua Henare Rogers. The musical performances of Waiora are centred upon the ancient cultural practices of the M ...

'' (1996) (NZ, Brighton Festival and Hawai'i tours) and ''Blue Smoke''. She played the role of ''Belle'' in the UK-NZ co-production of ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1998).
La Mama Theatre, New York. Retrieved 5 November 2009 A speaker of the indigenous

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

, Brunning also worked as a theatre director, cultural advisor and script consultant.
Auckland Actors Agency She received a best actress nomination at the 2009 Qantas Film & TV Awards for her role in the movie ''Strength of Water''. Brunning directed theatre and stage dramas from 1995. Her first production was

Briar Grace-Smith Briar Grace-Smith is a screenwriter, director, actor, and short story writer from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays ''Don't Ca ...

's first full-length one woman show called ''Nga Pou Wahine''. She also collaborated with Grace-Smith on a Taki Rua Theatre production in 1996 called ''Flat out Brown''; directed Maori language play ''Te Ohaki a Nihe'' written by Selwyn Muru and devised and directed with Grace-Smith again on a touring show called ''Waitapu'', also in 1996. She directed ''Women Far Walking'' written by Māori writer

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literat ...

. The play toured nationally and internationally to the UK. She was also assistant director with

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 '' Y ...

on ''Awhi Tapu'' by Albert Belz for the

Auckland Festival Formerly known as Auckland Festival, Auckland Arts Festival or is an annual arts and cultural festival held in Auckland, New Zealand. The Festival features works from New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia and beyond, including world premieres of new wor ...

. She was assistant director for the play ''The Songmaker's Chair'' written by Albert Wendt and directed by Nathaniel Lees. Brunning directed the short film ''Journey to Ihipa'' (2008) which screened at the New Zealand International Film Festivals and internationally, including the Vladivostok Film Festival (2009) and in New York.
2009 Vladivostok International Film Festival.Retrieved 7 November 2009 The film starred veteran New Zealand actress

Elizabeth McRae Elizabeth Helen McRae (née Kersley; born 1 August 1936) is a New Zealand actress, best known for her portrayal of Marjorie Brasch (née Neilson) in the television soap opera ''Shortland Street'', and, in the last decade, as Jean Marlowe, in ...

and Nathaniel Lees, and was shot in the Ngai Tuhoe Māori community of Ruatahuna in the central North Island of New Zealand. Brunning and theatre maker and educator

Tanea Heke Tanea Jane Heke is an actor, director and producer of theatre in New Zealand. In 2019 she was appointed as /Director of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. Career Heke is a 1997 graduate from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and was appointed dire ...

formed a production company Hāpai Productions in 2013 with a vision to "produce mana enhancing Māori Theatre productions whilst upholding Māori Values." The Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival in Gisborne was where Brunning last creative work ''Witi's Wahine'' was premiered in 2019. She wrote and directed this play as a tribute to the women characters in the novels of

. It has since been performed in Auckland and is programmed in the

Kia Mau Festival The Kia Mau Festival, previously called Ahi Kaa Festival, is a biennial performing arts festival in Wellington, New Zealand. In te reo Māori, kia mau is "a call to stay - an invitation to join us". The festival covers Māori, Pasifika and in ...

in 2021 Wellington.

Death

Brunning died on 16 November 2019 at age 48, nine years after being diagnosed with cancer. She posthumously won the

Bruce Mason Playwriting Award The Bruce Mason Playwriting Award is an annual award that recognises the work of an outstanding emerging New Zealand playwright. The winner is decided by the votes of a panel of leading New Zealand artistic directors and script advisors. The ...

the following day. Friend and frequent collaborator Temuera Morrison paid tribute to her. In a post on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, New Zealand television and radio host

Stacey Morrison Stacey Morrison (née Daniels, born 1974) is a New Zealand television and radio host. Morrison speaks fluent Te Reo Māori and is active in promoting Māori language, culture and health. Biography Morrison grew up in Christchurch, New Zeala ...

wrote that Brunning was "Our māmā, our sister, our aunty, our friend, she has followed the call of her tīpuna. Nancy's passion was to bring unheard stories to the light. To remind our people that our voices are a powerful tool and aroha is the most important thing of all. And while she was loved by the world, she was loved even more by us. She was the person that bound our whānau together." Following her death, there were calls for

Pharmac The Pharmaceutical Management Agency (Māori: ''Te Pātaka Whaioranga''), better known as Pharmac, is a New Zealand Crown entity that decides, on behalf of Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand, which medicines and pharmaceutical products are s ...

to be reformed.

Filmography

References

External links

Profile and screenography
at NZ On Screen *
Interview with Nancy Brunning on her first play ''Hikoi''
Standing Room Only,

Radio New Zealand National RNZ National ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Ā-Motu), formerly Radio New Zealand National, and known until 2007 as the National Programme or National Radio, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network operat ...

, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunning, Nancy 1971 births 2019 deaths 20th-century New Zealand actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses New Zealand film actresses New Zealand film directors New Zealand soap opera actresses New Zealand women film directors Place of death missing Place of birth missing New Zealand theatre directors Ngāti Raukawa people Ngāi Tūhoe people New Zealand Māori film producers New Zealand Māori actresses New Zealand women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century New Zealand women writers 21st-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights 21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights Toi Whakaari alumni