Dan Taipua

Guest writer

Daniel Taipua (Waikato-Tainui) is a freelance contributor who has worked in Auckland film and television his whole career. He was shortlisted to appear on TV One's 'Wheel of Fortune' in 2009, shortly before the programme was cancelled.

Whakaata Māori and the future of Māori media

Whakaata Māori and the future of Māori media

While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives.

By Dan Taipua | 28th March, 2024

Photo: Supplied

Out of the water and into the drink

Blockbusters like Avatar 2 advance the use of existing technologies and lead to the development of new ones. But what else can that tech then be used for?

By Dan Taipua | 22nd December, 2022

St James in disrepair (Image design: Archi Banal)

The case against saving the St James

The privately-owned Auckland theatre is seeking no less than $30m of public money for renovations. Here's why we'd be suckers to pay for it.

By Dan Taipua | 7th December, 2022

Screenshot: Henry Cooke on Twitter

Who are the swaying Kiwi Brothers?

And why do they sway so mournfully?

By Dan Taipua | 22nd April, 2022

Shining a bold light on an unobserved world, The Panthers is essential viewing

Shining a bold light on an unobserved world, The Panthers is essential viewing

Can a six-part series do justice to the Polynesian Panthers' story?

By Dan Taipua | 15th August, 2021

The original film poster for Patu! (1983)

The incredible legacy of Merata Mita’s Patu!

Dan Taipua looks at the legacy of Patu!, the landmark documentary about the Springbok tour protests of 1981.

By Dan Taipua | 30th July, 2021

Stills from Umurangi Generation.

What a video game about a futuristic Tauranga can tell us about our present

A new first-person photography game set in a dystopian Tauranga under lockdown is the best work of Māori science-fiction this decade, writes Dan Taipua.

By Dan Taipua | 29th May, 2020

Image: Matthew McAuley

Empire and rebellion: What Taika Waititi directing Star Wars means for Māori

By Dan Taipua | 10th May, 2020

Photo: TVNZ

Māori versus settlers in the wrestling ring? Hell yes!

TVNZ's new online-only series Colonial Combat pits the the inhabitants of Kauri Bay – Māori, settlers, men, women, and many more besides – against each other in the ring.

By Dan Taipua | 30th September, 2019

‘Wakening’ (2013) dir. Danis Goulet

Futurism Aotearoa: A Māori sci-fi festival touches down in Auckland

Self-identified 'Space Māori' Dan Taipua picks his highlights from this weekend's Māori Futurist events.

By Dan Taipua | 5th July, 2018