Everest to Open the Venice Film Festival
“Everest, a new movie about the two rival missions up the mountain in 1996, has been chosen as the opening night film of this year’s Venice film festival – a spot which has recently proved…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Clear Skies Ahead for Cloudy Bay
Cloudy Bay, the New Zealand winery that has “become the flag-bearer for New World wines,” is celebrated in the June issue of Air France Magazine. The winery, established in 1985…
Legacy of Visionary Entrepreneur Catalyzes NY’s Park Avenue Armory
The family of Wade Thompson, the Wellington, New Zealand native who revitalized the US recreational vehicle industry in the 1980s, has gifted New York City’s Park Avenue Armory with an historic $65…
Annette Tanner on a Unique Broadway Mission
New Zealander Annette Tanner, executive director of Atlanta-based non-profit organisation Broadway Dreams Foundation, is one of a “handful of remarkable women who are making their mark on educational theatre” in the United States, the…
Massey University Professor Chris Galloway committed to telling stories of Palestinians
“I feel personal commitment to tell the stories of Palestinians in the West Bank where I taught voluntarily a few times,” Chris Galloway, a professor from Massey University, told the Tehran Times on the…
Tree Church by Barry Cox a Backyard Sanctuary
Barry Cox’s Waikato Tree Church is a “heavenly 100-seat chapel set among a three-acre landscaped garden … walls are made of living trees planted around an iron frame”, Slate magazine reports. “In 2011, Cox,…
People Age at Wildly Different Rates Study Shows
Tests done in Dunedin on physiological markers in nearly 1000 38-year-olds has found that some had biological ages many years older than their birthdates would suggest. The research confirms that people grow old at…
Bologna-Based Guy Lydster Installs Headscapes
A new public art installation in Bologna sculpted by acclaimed Auckland-born artist Guy Lydster, has added an ecological dimension to the red-stoned city. A two-metre tall “headscape” base relief sculpted from Veronese marble showcases…
Beer and Burgers at Wellington on a Plate
New Zealand’s annual Wellington on a Plate culinary festival, which runs from 14-30 August, features in a Daily Telegraph travel feature. The newspaper takes a tour of the city’s breweries and seeks out the…
All Blacks Coach Steve Hansen Now a Samoan Chief
Three-times World Rugby Coach of the Year New Zealander Steve Hansen, 56, has been named an honorary high chief, or matai, of Vaiala village in Samoa, a day after his All Blacks team beat…
Tim Finn Loves Writing Songs More than Ever
Forty years in the music business, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated singer-songwriters, Tim Finn, 63, recently performed his new collaboration, White Cloud at the Galway International Arts festival. White Cloud may be derived from…
Lecretia’s Fight Lives On
The case brought by terminally ill New Zealand lawyer Lecretia Seales has become part of the larger worldwide right-to-die debate. A feature story in the June 27, 2015, edition of The Economist…
Twenty-Six Reasons NZ is the World’s Best To Visit
Once again, New Zealand has topped the Telegraph Travel awards as the world’s best place to visit; the publication offers up 26 reasons why. “First and most importantly, it looks amazing. Douglas Adams, the author…
Mitch Evans Is Formula One’s next Big Thing
The brightest star in the Formula One (F1) feeder series GP2 is Aucklander Mitch Evans who has amassed an impressive list of accolades despite being just 21 years old. He also has an attribute…
Weta Smithy Peter Lyon in the Mix at Comic-Con
Amongst the colourful characters who flood the San Diego Convention Center Comic-Con was New Zealand smithy Peter Lyon, who has worked the past 16 years for Weta Workshop. “When I started at Weta…
Comedian Rhys Darby Joins X-Files Cast
Actor Rhys Darby, who played werewolf Anton in What We Do in the Shadows, will join the cast of The X-Files “event series” as a man suspected by Fox Mulder to be the perpetrator…
Scientists to Study Silent Earthquakes off NZ
Scientists have proposed a 2018 pioneering project beneath the seafloor off New Zealand aimed at understanding the mechanisms of silent earthquakes, also known as slow-slip events. “An important way to understand the true cause of…
Heineken Open Honoured as Best Fan Experience
Beating stiff competition from renowned tournaments around the world, the Heineken Open Auckland has taken out the Best Fan Experience award at the ATP Awards in Wimbledon this week. “The Heineken Open Auckland is an…
NZ Baby Seals Use Inland Waterfall as Creche
Baby seals in New Zealand have turned the Ohau Waterfall into their personal swimming pool, even though the inland waterfall is more than a mile away from the coast. “It takes the seals about half-an-hour…
Rare White Whale Migaloo Tours New Zealand
A rare white humpback, usually spotted up the eastern Australian coastline, has been seen swimming with a normally dark-coloured humpback in New Zealand’s Cook Strait. “White humpbacks are extremely rare. Only four have been reported…
How Elk Farmer Thom Van Eeghen Became Canadian
Ottawa elk farmer Thom Van Eeghen, “a landed immigrant from New Zealand”, explains how he became a Canadian, and what he thinks Canada should do to celebrate the country’s 150th birthday in 2017. “I came…
JK Russ Major Player in US Art Scene
New Zealand-born artist JK Russ is included in a Los Angeles Confidential feature “spotlight and celebrating the freshest, boldest artistic talent” from each of the 11 American cities in which the magazine publishes. “From Aspen…
Pavlova & Rivesaltes by Air France
Air France’s June inflight magazine travels “to the end of the earth with this delicious New Zealand dessert: A meringue that’s crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, topped with divine crème…
Andrew Niccol Gets Green Light for Monopoly Script
Writer of The Truman Show, New Zealand-born Andrew Niccol has been hired to script the Monopoly movie, which will be a co-production between the game manufacturer Hasbro and Lionsgate. The companies called it “a film…
Two Kiwi Engineers Working on World’s Tallest New Tower in Saudi Arabia
Kiwi engineers Damien Fletcher and Greg Sang are working on the construction of the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – the world’s tallest new tower and the first kilometre-high building. “My most noteworthy projects…
Joseph Michael Capturing Moments of Magic
Joseph Michael, New Zealand photographer, spent hours capturing the light from glowworms in limestone caves, a photographic feat for the low light and freezing temperatures. Because the glowworms are found above water, Michael stood hours in…
Danny Lee Wins Greenbrier Classic
Rotorua golfer Danny Lee has earned his first PGA Tour win at The Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia in a four-man playoff nearly eight years after becoming a U.S. Amateur champion at age 18. “I kind of felt…
Rocket Lab to Launch from Kaitorete Spit
New Zealand company Rocket Lab says it plans to build its own launch site – the world’s first commercial orbital launch range – on Kaitorete Spit in Canterbury by the end of the year. The…
Dean Hall Tackles New Game Post DayZ Success
Dean Hall was on stage at Microsoft’s E3 press conference this year to unveil a name and a teaser for his studio RocketWerkz’s brand new game, Ion. But despite his role in helping Microsoft…
Raiders Punisher Josh Papalii Back in Form
Auckland-born Raiders enforcer, the “revitalised” Josh Papalii, 23, credits some tough love from coach Ricky Stuart as the key to turning his fortunes around. After a sluggish start to the NRL season when he questioned…
Swiss-Belhotel Chief Gavin Faull Ever the Traveller
New Zealander Gavin Faull, 63, has been living out of a suitcase ever since he decided to join a consulting firm in Hong Kong back in 1973. Now, as chairman and president of Swiss-Belhotel…
North Island a Feast of Exhilarating Activities
Ahipara, on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand’s northernmost region, is a fantastic place to begin a tour of the North Island, the National Post’s Kat Tancock suggests. “It’s late afternoon on a hot…
Picturesque Doesn’t Begin to Describe Minaret
Matt Wallis is one of four brothers who own Minaret Station, a working farm at Lake Wanaka with a luxurious alpine lodge for tourists and accessible only by helicopter, Katarina Kroslakova writes for the…
Marlon Williams’ Voice Skips Decades and Genres
Marlon Williams’ recent gig at Sydney’s Basement was “terrific”, according to music writer Bernard Zuel. “Williams is tall and good looking and charming and winning. That will get you far. He can write a…
New Zealand – Bucket List Destination: 6 Ways to Travel on a Budget
“The sweeping mountain vistas, stunning beaches, vibrant cities and hospitable locals make New Zealand a bucket list travel destination for many”, writes Claire Volkman for the Huffington Post. Getting to New Zealand and staying there…
Fear the Walking Dead Releases First Clip
AMC has released the first clip from its Walking Dead spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, which will premiere in August. The clip shows a scene in which guidance counsellor Nancy (Kim Dickens) assures…
Kiwi Turbo-Charges Walmart’s Reinvention
Walmart’s program to remain the world’s leading retailer has New Zealander Greg Foran in a driving role. In a Fortune profile of Walmart’s new CEO Doug McMillon, writer Brian O’Keefe reserves special…
New Zealand Steps Up To Chair UN Security Council
Throughout July, New Zealand’s top UN diplomat Gerard van Bohemen will take on the responsibilities of the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council, and his cited his main goal to facilitate…
NZ-Designed Waterslide Relocating to US Ski Trail
The World’s Longest Waterslide, designed by New Zealander Jimi Hunt, is to be rebuilt in the United States on the slopes of Mountain Creek in Vernon, New Jersey. After learning from Travel Channel producers about…
Jereme Aubertin Makes Surf Photo Comp Semifinals
New Zealander Jereme Aubertin has been named one of 10 semifinalists competing for the 2015 Follow The Light Photography grant, the most prestigious competition in surf photography. Aubertin, who took the picture above in the…
Zane Lowe Helping Apple Reinvent Live Radio
For the last 12 years, New Zealand radio DJ Zane Lowe has been a top tastemaker on the BBC’s Radio 1 by championing brand-new music, landing interviews with stars like Kanye West and running…
South Island Skies Illuminated by Aurora Australis
Local photographers Stephen Voss and Blair Pattinson braved freezing temperatures in the South Island to capture images of the Aurora Australis, a natural light display in the sky. A solar storm meant that the Aurora…
On Tiree at the Beach with Chef Margot Henderson
Chef owners of London’s Rochelle Canteen and St John New Zealander Margot Henderson and her husband Fergus talk with the Observer about their beach holidays on Hebridean island Tiree, a place for “recharging the…
Lemi Ponifasio Directs Epic Canadian Theatre Piece
Canada’s most ambitious musical theatre piece had a recent curtain call 35 years after its premiere, as part of Toronto’s 2015 Luminato Festival. New Zealand-based choreographer Lemi Ponifasio was called in to revive…
Artist Kristina Webb Prospering in Insta-Economy
Kristina Webb, a 19-year old New Zealander, has built a full-time job on Instagram with colourful, Disney-like pictures, which are appealing to a huge teenage base of viewers. “It is sort of my perfect job…
New Jazz Album Two-Out Intensely Moving
New Zealand “jazz titans” pianist Mike Nock and saxophonist Roger Manins’ new album Two-Out features “11 well-known standards delivered in ways that are accessibly melodic, yet interpretative, and at times intensely moving,” reviewer John…
Hard as Nails Keven Mealamu Has an Arty Side
The second most-capped All Black of all time tells the Independent how illustrating children’s books helps keep him grounded before big games, like the forthcoming defence of the World Cup. Mealamu, 36, one of the…
Keisha Castle-Hughes Thinks Big for Warrior Role
Not much more than a year ago, New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, 25, was a Game Of Thrones fan scouring Hollywood Boulevard for a long blonde wig to wear to an informal dress-up event…
California Playwright Inspired by Life of Nancy Wake
Wellington-born wartime heroine Nancy Wake’s story unfolds in Code Name: Brass Rose, a California-produced play by Rachel Bublitz on as part of San Francisco’s Loud and Unladylike reading festival. Wake was a British…
Queenstown Airport to Open New International Terminal
“New Zealand’s Queenstown Airport (…) is turning to be the busiest and the fastest-growing in the country (and) is set to become the third bigger as it opens the new international terminal”, writes Kalyan…
New Zealand Black Currants Boost Brain: Study
A study conducted by scientists at the New Zealand Plant & Food Research center and UK Northumbria University has found that compounds in juice from New Zealand black currants increases mental performance, mood, and…
Astronomers Hoping for Glimpse of Pluto in New Zealand
Scientists from all over the world will gather in Central Otago on New Zealand’s South Island for a rare 90-second glimpse of Pluto on Tuesday June 30. “A stellar occultation (is) an event when light…
New Zealand Ranked Top in Poll of Must-Visit Film Locations
New Zealand has topped the list of must-visit filming locations in a poll commissioned by HBO Entertainment. The Lord of the Rings film locations were followed by New York (Sex and the City) and The…
Benjamin Hadfield the Man Behind Hong Kong’s Junk Parties
New Zealander Benjamin Hadfield is co-founder of a Hong Kong-based start-up company, which serves as an online marketplace where anyone can easily book a junk for the day. Junks.hk aims to bring the city’s…
Rowland Perry Transforming Skateboards into Kitchen Tools
As a child growing up in rural New Zealand, Rowland Perry always had the need for a blade. Now, the Sydney-based skater and designer is making his own, refashioning old skateboards into bespoke kitchen…
New Zealand a Prosperity Index Success Story
While Greece, Spain and Portugal face a bleak scenario as they struggle on their road to recovery New Zealand, Canada, America and Britain emerge from the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index as success stories, Newsweek…
