Taika Waititi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taika Waititi
Born	1975 New Zealand
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter and comedian.

Taika Waititi a.k.a. Taika Cohen (c. 1975-) is a New Zealand born film director, writer, painter, comedian and actor of Maori Te Whanau-a-Apanui and Jewish descent^[1] who hails from the East Coast region of New Zealand. He is most notable for his short film Two Cars, One Night for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.

He was one half of the comedy duo Humourbeasts with Jemaine Clement. The Humourbeasts were the recipients of New Zealand's highest comedy accolade, the Billy T Award, in 1999.

His first feature film, Eagle vs Shark, was released to U.S. theatres for limited distribution, June 15, 2007. The film stars Waititi's real-life partner, Loren Horsley, as Lily. The same year, he wrote and directed one episode of the TV show Flight of the Conchords, and was director of another.

Waititi has been named as one of ten new talents to watch in influential United States entertainment magazine Variety.^[2]

[edit] Film Festivals

Taika Waititi has attended several Film Festivals promoting Eagle vs Shark. He and fellow film maker Mike Jonathan attended Vladivostok Film Festival on September 15th to September 21st, 2007 where he received Special Jury Award.^[3]