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KTiwi connections
he influence of New Zealand talent in the media and visu- al arts extends far and wide. There is producer Finola Dwyer, whose recent credits include Me Without You; Xena star Lucy Lawless; Working Title co-founder Tim Bevan; Grant Dean, Deputy Chair BAFTA Interactive; film- making sisters Jane and Anna Campion; composer Graeme Revell; and writer-director Andrew Niccol.
Then there are the film actors. Success in films generally brings with it the requirement to perfect an American – or at least mid- Pacific accent – so audiences may be less aware of the origins of some Kiwi talent. The ubiqui- tous Sam Neill for instance, or young Oscar winner Anna (The Piano) Paquin. Kerry Fox has played almost every nationality apart from her own since emerg- ing in An Angel At My Table.
Appearances can be decep- tive, which is something that Cliff Curtis has built his burgeoning career upon.
Making his name at home with a succession of fine perform- ances culminating in Once Were Warriors, he has gone on to play a dazzling variety of nationalities, changing his appearance as much as his accent as he goes: an Arab sheikh in The Insider, Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar in Blow, a Hispanic gang member in Training Day; a South American terrorist in Collateral Damage, and dusky B-movie vil- lain in The Majestic. As versatile as New Zealand itself.
Photos top left: Ian McKellen in The Lord of the Rings; top right: Lucy Lawless as Xena (Sky One); above from left: Three recently completed New Zealand movies being sold world wide by the New Zealand Film Commision. Sam Pillsbury's Crooked Earth had its US premiere at the Arizona Film Festival - an explosive drama starring Lawrence Makoare (left) and Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors); Gillian Ashurst's first feature, Snakeskin, won Best Film of the Year Award at the 2001 New Zealand Nokia Film Awards - and stars Melanie Lynskey as Alice in the car; Director Barry Barclay's stunning docu/drama, The Feathers Of Peace, tells the true story of the Moriori, the indigenous tribe of the Catham Islands in New Zealand known for their vow never to take up arms against another human being despite being well able to defeat invaders. Screened for the first time at the Hawaii Film Festival.
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