JulianArahanga
- Actor
- Director
Julian Arahanga shot into the public eye in 1994 screen phenomenon Once Were Warriors, playing the son who becomes a gang member. He followed it with a starring role in cross-cultural romance Broken English. Since then Arahanga has continued a prolific career working in front of, and increasingly behind the camera — including as producer and director on Māori Television series Songs from the Inside and Behind the Brush.
Screenography
Biography
Julian Arahanga (sometimes credited as Sonny Arahanga) is no stranger to film sets. He made his screen debut at the age of 11 in short film The Makutu on Mrs Jones. Arahanga played one of the main roles, as a boy who suspects a local Māori of having placed a makutu (curse) on a Pākēha woman (Annie Whittle). Looking back, Arahanga says he was too young to realise how lucky he was to be working with an actor of Whittle's presence, as well as kaumātua Sonny Waru, who was chosen to accompany landmark exhibition Te Māori to the United States.
Awards
2017 New Zealand Television Awards
Best Reality Series: Songs from the Inside, series 3 (Christchurch)
2008 Wairoa Māori Film Festival Awards
Best Documentary Aotearoa - Turangaarere: The John Pohe Story
“I had a ball working in Otara and seeing all the children so interested in what was going on. That was quite a good moment for me, to actually realise this film was real, it’s not make believe, it’s actually happening.”
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