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AwanuiSimich-Pene

(Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Apakura, Croatian, Belgian
  • Director
  • Actor
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Of Māori, Croatian and Belgian descent, Awanui Simich-Pene grew up in the far north. In 2003 her studies in Māori and sociology at Auckland University were swapped for a Unitec degree in writing and directing. Experience in front of the camera (including as the scheming Rima on reality parody Living the Dream) and behind it (as a script supervisor) led to directing gigs on a run of shows: from Riwia Brown-penned domestic drama Irirangi Bay, to bilingual kids show Pūkana and comedy Find Me a Māori Bride. In 2017 Simich-Pene was a director on anthology feature Waru (2017), as one of eight Māori wahine filmmakers.

Screenography

First Horse
2024 Director, Writer Short film
2022 Producer, Director Web
2019 Director, Writer, Producer Short film
2018 - 2026 Director, Director Series
2017 Director Film

Awards

2024 Sydney Film Festival
(Inaugural) First Nations Award: for First Horse

2023 New Zealand Web Festival
Best Web Series Pilot - New Zealand: Te Pāmu Kūmara

“Getting to observe directors at work has been a wonderful learning experience for me, how they prep, how they communicate their ideas, and how they collaborate on set with actors and crew, I’m always watching and learning ... directing is an extremely rewarding outlet for creativity, exploration, connection and heart...”

Awanui Simich-Pene