Coming to America
The largest exhibition of Maori art ever to show in the US opened at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts on August 4. Entitled Toi Maori Art from the Maori…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Flying the southern flag for philosophy
Victoria University’s Professor Kim Sterelny has won the 2004 Lakatos Award for his book Thought in a Hostile World: The Evolution of Human Cognition. The $10,000 prize, named in honour of Karl Popper protégé…
World’s fastest kiwi
Screenwriter and director Roger Donaldson’s film The World’s Fastest Indian was a roaring success at the Cannes Film Festival. It has quickly become the most sought after feature in the Cannes Market…
The Sweet Sound of Success
Dilworth School alum Mark Petrie (above right) is carving an impressive career in film and television scoring in LA. Petrie completed a degree in film composing at Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1999. He is now…
Midwestern Dashper
The Sioux City Art Center is to show Midwestern Unlike You and Me: New Zealand’s Julian Dashper. This is the first ever travelling retrospective of a New Zealand-based artist to be organized by an…
Biennale buzz
Art collective et al is New Zealand’s representative at the Venice Biennale with its installation The Fundamental Practice. Central to et al.’s work is an exploration of the human tendency to establish truths and…
Shark Attack
“More than 14,000 fans screamed along to anthems from the Split Enz and Crowded House song books. There was no doubting the brothers’ enduring relevance with songs from their latest album Everyone is Here…
Richard Curtis: Love is the Edge
The BBC screened the latest work by screenwriter and director Richard Curtis, The Girl in the Café, on the eve of the 2005 G8 meeting at Gleneagles. Curtis’s script faces the…
Book World’s Reigning Queen
Literary doyenne Liz Calder, co-founder of Bloomsbury Press and nurturer of such talents as Salman Rushdie, Anita Brookner, Julian Barnes and J.K Rowling, has continued her success with the establishment of the Festa Literaria…
Hot property
Actor Martin Csokas is hailed as “the new Russell Crowe” in the July issue of Australian Vogue. Csokas’ recent projects include The Bourne Supremacy with Matt Damon, Asylum with Natasha Richardson and Sir Ian…
Dinosaurs in the Domain
An Aucklander story featured on international Alt News website, Rense. ‘Mystery creature roams Auckland park,’ turned out to be a tongue-in-cheek promotion of the Auckland Museum’s new dinosaur models in the surrounding Domain.
Shattering cinema
Another fantastic review for award-winning NZ film, In My Father’s Den. “They say that NZ wears its people lightly: the land is so strong, so exciting, so varied and so remote that its people…
From strength to strength
Catherine Chidgey’s second novel, The Strength of the Sun, is rapturously received in the New York Times. “It’s difficult to articulate exactly what gives this novel its unassuming power … In combination, the disparate…
Buggin’ out
NZ entomologist, writer, broadcaster and educator, Ruud Kleinpaste, is a hit in the US as the host of Animal Planet’s Buggin’ With Ruud. “In Buggin’ With Ruud, the energetic, fearless Kleinpaste subjects himself…
Four stars for Fat Freddy
Wellington groovers Fat Freddy’s Drop recently mounted a highly successful European tour. The Observer‘s glowing review of their new album, Based on a True Story, proves the broad appeal of their distinctly Kiwi sound….
Heavenly Creatures
The Royal NZ Ballet impresses critics with its first foray into Sydney. The Herald reviewer is particularly taken with the show’s titular piece, A Million Kisses to My Skin. “I suspect that the…
Cinderella Man
Russell Crowe won widespread acclaim for his role in Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “At the centre of all richness is another irresistible star turn by Crowe. As his Oscar-winning performance in…
Wilding at heart (2)
A stylish black and white music video by LA-based nzer Anna Wilding (and relative of Wimbledon chamption Anthony Wilding) reached final competition of the first ever Los Angeles Femme Festival held in…
Crowe’s Cinderella
Russell Crowe stirs the first Oscar-talk of the season: “An exquisite ode to a working-class hero, “Cinderella Man” takes the almost impossibly perfect elements of the saga of underdog boxer James J. Braddock…
Olympus comes to Aotearoa
Hercules, a Hallmark Productions (US) telemovie starring Leelee Sobieski, Sean Astin, and Timothy Dalton, used the NZ countryside as a stand-in for ancient Greece. “The story requires a bigger-than-life place,” says Dalton. “It needs…
Standring Gets Teeth into International Market
According to Empire magazine, Glenn Standring’s Perfect Creature is NZ’s largest ever international film sale. Set in an alternate 1960s/70s NZ, the highly original vampire tale stars British actors Dougray Scott and…
Brave New Voice
Jonathan Lemalu’s debut album, Opera Arias, is bringing the already acclaimed singer further international praise. Chicago Tribune: “Lemalu shines particularly brightly in Mozart’s music, bringing a disarming combination of voice, musicality and personality to…
Leading the Radio One renaissance
Zane Lowe, the NZ-born DJ single-handedly credited with making BBC Radio One cool again, was named Music Broadcaster of the Year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards in London. He also picked up the…
Revell in Sin City
New Zealand-born (1955) composer Graham Revell has scored the soundtrack of the new Robert Rodruguez film Sin City starring Bruce Willis. Revell graduated from the University of Auckland with…
Peter Jackson most powerful
Reports of the list of Hollywood’s power people compiled by Premiere magazine for their June issue have revealed that Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson is the most powerful. According to the reports,…
Teaser goes down a treat
The global screening of the inaugural trailer for the Chronicles of Narnia caused hysteria amongst fans eager for a glimpse of Kiwi Andrew Adamson’s creation. “The snow-globe fantasyland of the most popular book in…
Miramar the Seat of Power
The June issue of Premiere magazine (US) named Peter Jackson the most powerful person in Hollywood, ahead of Steven Spielberg, Pixar animations duo Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks. According…
One for the mantelpiece
Sam Neill won the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama for his role in Jessica at Australia’s 47th annual TV Week Logie Awards. Neill also presented the Gold Logie, which was…
The real super heroes
Kiwi stuntwoman Zoe Bell (Xena, Kill Bill, Catwoman) is the joint subject of an American documentary on women in her profession, entitled Double Dare. The film charts the very different careers of Bell…
Archiball
Artist Martin Ball was the first New Zealand resident artist to be a finalist in Australia’s premier portraiture award, the Archibald Prize, with his painting of artist John Pule. The prize was won by…
Boy oh boy
Welby Ing’s Boy won the Best Short Narrative Film award at the 2005 Cinequest Festival in San Jose, which qualifies it for consideration for next year’s Oscars. The film tells the story of a…
New Wave Jazz
Acclaimed Kiwi pianist Aron Ottignon launched his debut album, Culture Tunnels, with band Aronas in April. Inspired by Pacific log drumming, the Aronas sound is an innovative take on acoustic jazz. Sydney Morning Herald:…
Dinosaurs down under
The fourth installation of Jurassic Park is rumoured to be filming in NZ later this year, with Sam Neill reprising his role as Dr Grant. Visual Effects maestro Stan Winston aims to “raise the…
Thumbs up for Next Big Thing
Steriogram scores a healthy 4 out of 5 stars in iAfrica‘s music guide with their debut album Schmack. ” the slick production and tight arrangements, Schmack reverberates to the sound of five guys having…
Country music’s saviour
Since winning Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2004 Country Music Awards, NZ-born Keith Urban has cemented his place as country’s best and brightest new star with a series of sell-out gigs. In…
Underbelly Exposure
One of the co-authors of controversial U.N tell-all Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story From Hell on Earth is NZ-born doctor Andrew Thompson. Described on Amazon as a “scorching, devastatingly…
2 Films, Much Praise
Taika Waititi’s acclaimed short film Two Cars, One Night was nominated for an Oscar at this year’s awards. It is now touring the US alongside fellow nominees as part of an Oscar 2005 shorts…
Rock solid
Kiwi rockers The Datsuns have a glowing review of their sophomore album Outta Sight/Outta Mind in the Indy Star. “While contemporaries such as the Strokes and the Vines stumbled with releases last year, the…
Analysing the “Yucky Side of Life”
John Crace interviews Joanna Bourke, lecturer, historian and author of numerous academic books including the controversial An Intimate History of Killing and her most recent publication, Fear: A Cultural History. “Historians tend to come…
Kiwi Crusader
Having already cracked the Australian market, Kiwi hop hop superstar Scribe is now making himself heard in New York. NYT: “Scribe, 25, is at the forefront of the country’s exploding hip-hop scene -…
Modesty Blaize
Magazine editor, Auckland native and former Craccum muse, Louise Chunn, interviewed in the Guardian. Since leaving NZ in the early 1980s, Chunn has worked on such esteemed titles as Fashion Weekly, Just 17, Elle,…
Russell Crowe – The Hard-Ass
GQ’s feature on the ten greatest actors of our generation leads with Wellington-born Russell Crowe and his passion for connecting emotionally with an audience. Does this peg him as a dinosaur? “In those respects-credibility,…
Grammy for Fran Walsh
From playing bass in 80s Wellington band Naked Spots Dance via a film or two, Wellington muse Fran Walsh wins a Grammy for Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media:…
My Favourite Ape
Compared with his work as an Oscar-winning director and the filmmaker behind the most popular trilogy in movie history, Peter Jackson’s first attempt to remake King Kong was by any measure amateurish. Jackson painted…
Kiwis on Both Sides of the Camera
Fresh on the heels of her international success with Whale Rider, Niki Caro is to direct an as yet untitled feature for Warner Bros. Starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek and Sean Bean,…
Wild about Buddha
Anna Wilding’s feature length documentary Buddha Wild sold out its sneak preview sessions at Rialto Cinemas as well as in Thailand, with all proceeds going to the tsunami appeal. Expect big things on the…
Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens are to develop the Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones as their next film after King Kong. Though “The Lovely Bones” is not on the order of…
Handled with Care
Mansfield, C.K Stead’s fictional account of the life of Katherine Mansfield, received warmly in the Independent. “Any novelisation of this kind is a daunting task, with readers either knowing too much, or too little….
Memorable Moves
The Royal NZ Ballet’s performance of Javier Frutos’ Milagros made the Observer‘s top ten dance moments of 2004. The piece toured the UK in May as part of an RNZB triple bill.
Man-made Marvel
Peregrine Winery in Gibbston Valley, Central Otago, was one of five winners of the world’s biggest and best architectural award – the Architectural Review’s ar+d Emerging Architecture prize – for 2004. The London-based award…
Connolly lost for words?
Billy Connolly’s World Tour of New Zealand screened in Scotland over December, to widespread appreciation. “Driving his three-wheeled motorbike through some of the world’s most dramatic scenery with the sun blazing overhead, Connolly looks…
Best in show
Te Vaka is the critic’s pick of the bunch in a review of new international music compilation, South Pacific Islands (Putumayo World Music). “The best tracks come from Te Vaka (which means canoe), a…
Black Grace “a revelation”
The US debut of Black Grace was one of the New York Times’ dance highlights of 2004. Says reviewer Jennifer Dunning; “The audience was filled with Berkshires vacationers of all ages and degrees of…
Treading a different path
Not only has Natasha Bedingfield gone double platinum in the UK, been voted Hot New Talent of 2004 by Smash Hits, and secured a million pound recording contract in the US, she also managed…
Headlining Act
Neil Dawson’s Fanfare sculpture provided the focal point for Sydney’s famous New Year celebrations. The 20m steel sphere, studded with more than 300 light reflective pinwheels, was suspended from the Harbour Bridge in the…
Return of the cast
If Peter Jackson ever decides (and has the time) to make a film version of The Hobbit, he has the backing and blessing of his LotR cast. “People want it so much,” says actor…
