LeoKoziol

Leo Koziol founded and directed the Wairoa Māori Film Festival for more than two decades, celebrating Māori and Indigenous cinema —initially at the Gaiety Theatre in Wairoa, before moving to Kahungunu Marae in Nūhaka. After working in regional planning in Auckland and San Francisco, Koziol returned to New Zealand as Wairoa’s District Planner, where he saw the potential to revitalise his community via art and film, founding the festival in 2005. He co-curated Ngā Whanaunga at the NZIFF as well as Indigenous film programmes internationally. He was the subject of short doco Native in Nūhaka and, in 2019, was recognised with a Te Aupounamu Māori in Screen Excellence Award. Koziol passed away in August 2026, aged 57.