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WhetūFala

Ngā Rauru, Ngāti Maru o Taranaki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Te Ati Haunui-a-Paparangi Rotuma, Samoa
  • Producer
  • Director
  • Writer
  • Actor
Whetū_Fala_PP.png

Whetū Fala has championed Māori and Pasifika storytelling across theatre, film, television, and radio. She founded Fala Media in 2007 — which specialises in producing indigenous content — and has served on various boards including Whakaata Māori and Ngā Aho Whakaari. In 2024, she directed feature-length documentary Taki Rua Theatre: Breaking Barriers, on pioneering kaupapa Māori theatre company Taki Rua. 

Screenography

Taki Rua Theatre - Breaking Barriers
2024 Director, Writer, Producer Film
Gurl
2020 As: Whaea Short film
Marae Connectivity
2020 As: Auntie Whetu Series
The Other Side of Heaven 2: Fire of Faith
2019 As: Asi Film
Nomads of the Sea: Te Wai Ngunguru
2019 Executive Producer Short film

Biography

Whetū Fala has built a career championing Māori and Pasifika storytelling across theatre, film, television and radio. Born Māori with Samoan heritage, she was raised in Aramoho near Whanganui. Fala discovered her love for the performing arts early; she recalls being "utterly entranced and amazed" watching theatre (including Red Mole) in her hometown. Her passion was "taken to a new level" when she began singing and dancing in her school’s annual operettas.

Awards

2019 Women in Film and Television New Zealand Awards (WIFT NZ) 
Mana Wahine Film Award

2008 Māori Language Week Awards
Nominated for Innovation Award: Raising Bilingual Children – Generation Reo

“Whetū Fala is a tireless advocate for both Māori and Pasifika filmmaking, and has been so for many many decades . . . An award to Whetū is a cause for celebration for both Māoridom and Pasifika communities, to in particular celebrate the unique place Whetū has had weaving her diverse communities together.”

— Whetū Fala is awarded 2019's WIFT Mana Wahine Award, WIFTNZ website, 14 May 2019

Related images

Te-Rua-Gallery-1.jpg
Filming the arrest after the siege for Te Rua: from left to right, Hori Ahipene, Whetū Fala, unidentified actor (as policeman), Peter Kaa, and German actor Maria Fitzi (facing camera).
Photograph by Andrezj Nowakowzki. Kindly supplied by the Dominion Post.
Te-Rua-Gallery-3.jpg
A scene shot in Berlin, for Barry Barclay's feature Te Rua. From left, Peter Kaa as Peter Huaka, Whetū Fala, Fala (Merata) and Toby Mills (Tim).