WaihoroiShortland
- Actor
- Writer
A veteran figure in Māori broadcasting, Waihoroi Shortland has also been an actor (Rain of the Children, Boy), scriptwriter (Crooked Earth) and Māori advisor (The Piano). In 2003 he won the NZ Film Award for Best Actor, after playing Shylock in The Māori Merchant of Venice, the first feature entirely in te reo. in 2015 he became the first chair of Te Mātāwai, the organisation charged with revitalising te reo on behalf of Māori.
Screenography
Biography
Māori broadcasting veteran Tainui Stephens describes Waihoroi Shortland as a man who has used his expertise in te reo Māori to "make a profound mark" in Māori broadcasting — "He dispenses forthright opinion, wisdom and gut-bustingly funny humour in equal measure."
Awards
2003 New Zealand Film Awards
Best Actor: for The Māori Merchant of Venice
“Waihoroi steals the film as a Shylock who is indignant and mischevious, sly and self-righteous.”