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JosephineStewart-Te Whiu

Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa
  • Director
  • Writer
  • Actor
Josephine-Stewart-Te-Whiu-Profile.jpg

Auckland film and theatre maker Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu acts, writes and directs. As a writer/director, her short family drama Ani was a nominee at the 2019 Berlin and Toronto International Film Festival; and short When We Were Kids won two awards at the 2021 NZ International Film Festival. She contributed to the award-winning screenplay and acted in the collaborative film Waru. Her other acting credits include Find Me A Māori Bride and Mahana. She directed her debut feature We Were Dangerous in 2024, following three girls at a 1950s reform school. The film was awarded a Special Jury award at American festival South by Southwest.

Screenography

We Were Dangerous
2024 Director, Additional Writing Film
When We Were Kids
2020 Director, Writer Short film
Ani
2019 Director, Writer Short film
Krystal
2018 Writer Film
Waru
2017 Writer, As: Tania Film

Awards

2024 South by Southwest Film Festival (United States) 
Special Jury Award - Narrative Feature Section: We Were Dangerous

2021 Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival
Best Short Film: When We Were Kids (shared with short film Washday)
Spirit of The Civic Award

“I was really frustrated with how Māori were being represented in a lot of our cinema, especially men. So I made a little piece that was anti that and really flipped the script on how people view our men.”

— Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu on her short film Ani, in an interview with Te Ao Māori News, 8 September 2019