News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Juggling juggernauts with local stories

Juggling juggernauts with local stories

NY Times piece entitled ‘Spunky NZ film Industry Takes on the Hollywood Juggernaut’ ponders the pros and cons of NZ’s bold new presence in the international film community. Interviewees such as director Vincent Ward…

The many facets of King Kong

The many facets of King Kong

Peter Jackson’s King Kong graced the cover of the January issue of Cinefex, America’s premiere cinema effects magazine. Inside is a 45-page in depth look at the incredibly detailed digital, physical and emotional…

Metapsychology

Metapsychology

Massey University PhD and Wairarapa philosopher Derek Mesler has been published by the MIT Press. The Act of Thinking is “the work of a mature, sophisticated and profound thinker who may just have written…

Brits Back Fat Freddy

Brits Back Fat Freddy

Incessant European touring appear to have paid off for Wellington band Fat Freddy’s Drop. The dub/reggae/roots collective won worldwide album of the year at the annual BBC Radio 1 Gilles Peterson Worldwide Music Awards for their…

Keeping it Local

Keeping it Local

One of NZ’s most successful producers Tim White returned to work on Toa Fraser’s debut feature No.2. An Ilam graduate, White’s producing credits include Ned Kelly, Map of the Human Heart, Two Hands, Oscar…

A thing of wonder

A thing of wonder

Released in December, Peter Jackson’s King Kong has received near unanimous praise from critics and movie-goers around the world. “This new King Kong is a folie de grandeur with real grandeur; in its power,…

Kiwi Story Rings True in US

Kiwi Story Rings True in US

Roger Donaldson’s World’s Fastest Indian, with Sir Anthony Hopkins playing NZ motorcycle legend Burt Munro, has been largely praised in the US. Hollywood Reporter: “A pleasingly whimsical and slyly mischievous road movie that features…

Kiwi contributes to Anger canon

Kiwi contributes to Anger canon

Auckland University graduate Alice Hutchison has written an internationally acclaimed book on cult 1960s filmmaker Kenneth Anger, the artist who many believed defined the Age of Aquarius with such iconic works as Invocation of…

Mt Roskill meets Utah… and the world

Mt Roskill meets Utah… and the world

No.2, the debut feature film by playwright Toa Fraser, has been selected for competition at Sundance 26. Based on his award winning play of the same name, No.2 stars a mixture of international and local actors…

South Sea Saga

South Sea Saga

Pamela Stephenson, NZ born psychologist, author and wife to comedian Billy Connolly, has published a book retracing the 19th century travels of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson. The Advertiser: ” loosely as the diary…

New Take on an Extraordinary Figure

New Take on an Extraordinary Figure

Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life, a new authorized biography by art curator Alexa Johnston, has been well received both at home and abroad. According to Johnston, speaking in the Sunday Star Times,…

Something old, something new

Something old, something new

The internationally acclaimed NZ String Quartet made an impressive debut in Minneapolis, performing as part of the annual Music in the Part Series in St Paul. The Quartet’s program included the world premiere of NZ composer…

The new jazz order

The new jazz order

Stuart Nicholson, author of Is Jazz Dead (Or has it Moved to a new Address)?, names Kiwi Aron Ottignon as one of the six best new players on the international jazz scene. “Without anyone…

Urban philosophy

Urban philosophy

Whangarei-born, Caboolture (Queensland)-raised, Keith Urban is the hottest country music sensation in the world. Urban won entertainer of the year and best male vocalist at the Country Music Association Awards broadcast from…

On the Mark

On the Mark

The Guardian hails the rise and rise of Mark Baldwin, Fijian-born NZ-raised artistic director of London’s renowned Rambert Dance Company. After just three years in the job, Baldwin has significantly increased the Company’s…

Hayley hits America

Hayley hits America

NZ’s popera diva, Hayley Westenra, has landed the coveted opening slot for Il Divo on their U.S tour early next year. Touring with the hit operatic boy band could provide the ideal opportunity…

Meet Me in Miami

Meet Me in Miami

Christchurch-produced independent film Meet Me in Miami premiered in one of the prime spots at the prestigious Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival on October 29 at The Egyptian Theatre in…

Serial thriller

Serial thriller

October saw the UK premiere of hit NZ play, Serial Killers. Written by former Shortland Street scriptwriter, James Griffin, Serial Killers is a black comedy which takes place behind the scenes of…

Great Scot

Great Scot

Alex Reedijk is leaving his post as general director of the NZ Opera to take the reins at its Scottish counterpart in March 2006. Reedjik has previously worked for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scottish…

Teddy Fan-club on the Rise

Teddy Fan-club on the Rise

Kiwi baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes continues to set hearts a-flutter in the opera world. The Sydney media have called him “opera’s Brad Pitt,” the New York Times “a cross between Paul Bettany and Viggo…

The case for the code

The case for the code

The man behind international best-seller The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, will face a High Court action brought by the authors of the non-fictional work The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982). The…

Doomed for Success

Doomed for Success

“Doom may be by the numbers … But those numbers add up to the most cleverly engineered video-game movie made to date.” Starring NZ actor Karl Urban and NZ affiliated Dwayne Johnson…

Narnia comes to life

Narnia comes to life

Excitement is growing for the December release of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Filmed in New Zealand and directed by New Zealander Andrew Adamson (noted for his Shrek successes), this…

North Country

North Country

North Country is Niki Caro’s directorial follow-up to the hugely successful Whale Rider. Set in the iron mining region of north Minnesota, North Country tackles sexual harassment in the workplace…

The people’s Campion

The people’s Campion

Jane Campion has been lured out of self-imposed retirement for a very worthy cause. She joins fellow directing luminaries Robert Altman, Jodie Foster and Gaspar Noe in contributing to an 8-part feature film outlining…

The lion, the witch and the evangelicals

The lion, the witch and the evangelicals

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will not only be doing battle at the box-office but also for the souls of mankind, according to an article published in the Guardian. US groups such…

Kubrick’s Successor?

Kubrick’s Successor?

The latest Hollywood release by Kapiti-grown, LA-resident writer-director Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca) is Lord of War. Described by the Guardian as “a moral fable treated with a surface realism,” Lord of War…

On living legends and future music

On living legends and future music

NZ composer and musicologist Robin Maconie has written a meticulously researched autobiography of the man many believe to be the world’s greatest living composer, German electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Maconie is regarded…

Heir to a Legend

Heir to a Legend

Antoni Gaudi’s great unfinished masterpiece – the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona – is finally nearing completion, under the steady hand of NZ architect Mark Burry. Work on the epic scale building effectively…

Fat Freddy’s pick up

Fat Freddy’s pick up

Wellington dub and reggae band Fat Freddy’s Drop took home four of the top Tuis at the New Zealand Music Awards. The band won best album and best roots album for…

WoWing the Crowds

WoWing the Crowds

The 2005 World of Wearable Art (WoW) show – the first to be held in Wellington rather than Nelson – was a huge success, with a record-breaking 30,000 tickets purchased for the event. The show is widely…

Bogans go global

Bogans go global

New Zealand comedians Matt Heath and Chris Stapp, of Back of the Y and Bogan’s Heroes fame, have taken their special brand of gross-out humour to London, as contributing stuntmen on Channel 4’s …

Kong is coming

Kong is coming

Wired magazine’s October issue features a lavish 16-page look at Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong, due to hit cinemas this December. Wired examines the greatly anticipated film through an…

Army Colonel Turned Art Critic

Army Colonel Turned Art Critic

Prince Andrew made a fleeting visit to NZ this month, chiefly to spend time with the army’s Logistic Regiment, which he has headed since 1996. The Prince made international headlines with his humorous interpretation…

Practice makes perfection

Practice makes perfection

Painter Max Gimblett is the subject of a lengthy article in premiere US art magazine, Art in America. Gimblett’s latest works were recently shown at the Haines Gallery in San Francisco. Critic…

Art in New Zealand

Art in New Zealand

October’s Art in America features a “Report from New Zealand” by Richard Kalina, examining New Zealand artists and their work as well as the art history and institutions of the…

Capital meditation

Capital meditation

Wallpaper magazine takes a look at the city-scapes of Wellington through the lens of legendary American photographer Stephen Shore – who had three pictures acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York…

Local epic lures Donaldson home

Local epic lures Donaldson home

An interview with The World’s Fastest Indian director Roger Donaldson is the cover story for the October issue of Inside Film. Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, the feature is described as the culmination of a…

The Amazing Phil

The Amazing Phil

New Zealand presenter and producer Phil Keoghan has continued his winning streak with The Amazing Race. Produced by Hollywood heavyweight Jerry Bruckheimer, the show was named outstanding reality programme for the third time at…

Datsuns in good company

Datsuns in good company

The Datsuns have been invited to play on a tribute album for the late, great BBC DJ John Peel, alongside superstars Robert Plant, Roger Daltrey, Peter Shelley, David Gilmour and Peter Hook, and fellow…

Message in a vessel

Message in a vessel

NZ sculptor Roger Thompson is one of 400 artists from 65 different countries exhibiting at the second annual Beijing International Art Biennale. His Cultural Vessels/Amphoric Triptych is a collection of three containers representing…

Poptastic

Poptastic

‘Opera band’ Amici Forever’s clever fusion of classical and pop music continues to win them fans in the US and around the world. The brainchild of Kiwi member Geoff Sewell, Amici Forever’s debut album…

Cinematic Landmark

Cinematic Landmark

Rowan Woods’ Little Fish has been dubbed “the most important film in a year that’s looking like a dramatic turnaround for Australian movies.” Kiwi actors Martin Henderson, Sam Neill and Joel Tobeck…

Keith Urban up for US music awards

Keith Urban up for US music awards

Country music star Keith Urban has four nominations at this year’s Country Music Association Awards. Urban is up for entertainer of the year, male vocalist of the year, album of the year for…

Hayley goes to Hollywood

Hayley goes to Hollywood

The career of Hayley Westenra seems set to scale further heights with the release of her second full-length album, Odyssey. In the first two weeks of its launch, Odyssey sales have surpassed international…

Alan Dale heart-attacked from The O.C.

Alan Dale heart-attacked from The O.C.

Dunedin-born actor Alan Dale’s role as wealthy Orange County real estate mogul, Caleb Nichol (“deep down, he is a conniving man that won’t stop until he gets what he wants”) in the hit show

Kiwi bunny and the Princess has E! Hit

Kiwi bunny and the Princess has E! Hit

Former Playboy Bunny, New Zealander Sandra Costa continues to turn vision into reality. Today, an international business woman and entrepreneur, Costa’s clients are amongst the “Rich and Famous”. President of Sandra Costa Development, interior…

Aspirational Apprehension

Aspirational Apprehension

Aucklander Andrew Patterson features in the new Phaidon showcase of the world’s 100 most exceptional emerging architects selected by 10 leading figures in architecture. “We’re a beautiful natural part of the planet and our…

Tribute to a torchbearer

Tribute to a torchbearer

Chicago-based writer, Cheryl Kent, has published a book on internationally renowned Wellington born architect David Hovey entitled The Nature of Dwellings: The Architecture of David Hovey. Amazon’s editorial notes describe Hovey as “the torchbearer…

Disney Classic Gets Kiwi Treatment

Disney Classic Gets Kiwi Treatment

A new Walt Disney stage production of Beauty and the Beast has proved a double coup for NZ. Weta Workshop is to design costumes for the $1 million extravaganza, which will be presented by…

Princes of Darkness

Princes of Darkness

Black Grace was invited to perform again at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival after being the surprise hit of the event last year. “Never before has this reviewer seen a group of male dancers who…

Prom Date

Prom Date

Jonathan Lemalu and the NZSO were guest performers at this year’s BBC Proms. The prestigious annual event is held at the Royal Albert Hall and reaches a global audience of millions. Times: “Flesh and…

On the right path

On the right path

Another talented Urban, Karl is to star in the upcoming US$30 million Viking epic, Pathfinder. Directed by Marcus Nipsel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and written by Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander), Pathfinder tells the story of a…

Fans tickled pink

Fans tickled pink

Stokes Valley tribute band, The Pink Floyd Experience, whipped South African fans into a frenzy with their recent tour of the country. “This was no second-string cover band: it was obviously a highly…

Almost kiwi

Almost kiwi

Best-selling British author, Alexander McCall Smith, (No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) revealed a Kiwi connection while in the country promoting his latest book. McCall Smith’s doctor father, George McCall Smith, ran off with a patient…

Fox buys slice of Kiwi reality

Fox buys slice of Kiwi reality

US cable network giant, Fox Reality, has purchased the rights to a three NZ reality TV shows; Treasure Island, Treasure Island Extreme, and The Bounty Hunters. “These shows are really strong examples of…