Sandra Kailahi

After starting her reporting career in radio, Sandra Kailahi switched to television and worked on Pacific magazine show Tagata Pasifika. The Tongan-German spent 11 years reporting for the long-running series, before moving to Fair Go for three years. Kailahi went on to produce Te Karere and One News, plus read the news on channel TVNZ 7. In 2017 she turned her hand to film producing, with short film The Messiah. Two years later her first feature, documentary For My Father's Kingdom, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. The Porirua local was appointed to the board of the NZ Film Commission in March 2019. 

…it just means that we [Pacific Islanders] are now at the table and we can bring our voice to the table, and we can look at that and really amplify and uplift our voices, our stories, and that's what I'm really excited about. Sandra Kailahi, interviewed on Radio 531 PI about her appointment to the board of the NZ Film Commission, 7 March 2019