Film and television producer Ngaire Fuata was one of three Pasifika recipients honoured at the Women in Film and Television (WIFT) awards on Friday night.
Fuata received the Warner Bros. Discovery Award for Pasifika Excellence in the Screen Industry. An award that’s also supported by the Tautai Pacific Arts Trust, it recognises an outstanding contribution by a Moana Pasifika woman in any field in the Aotearoa/New Zealand screen industry.
With more than 30 years experience in television production and film, Fuata, who is Rotuman, is a Producer and co-owner at SunPix Ltd, which produces the long-running Tagata Pasifika show for TVNZ.
She has produced award-winning short films ‘Ma’ and ‘ Liliu’ and most recently the feature film ‘Mysterious Ways’. She has also co-produced Tusitala Media’s 26:29 supernatural episode for TVNZ 2 and Executive Produced for web series ‘Misconceptions’ and ‘Soul Sessions’.
In accepting her award, she thanked her family, the Māori and Pasifika communities, fellow Sunpix directors and friends who “allow me to do what I do, and I can’t do it without them.”
Samoan Film maker Abba-Rose Vaiaoga-Ioasa won the Hinterland Woman to Watch Award.
Alongside her director brother Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa, she produced successful films ‘Mama’s music box’, ‘Take Home Pay’ and ‘Hibiscus and Ruthless’.
In her acceptance speech, she says she was glad she chose to step into the film industry instead of becoming an Engineer. The Award recognises a woman with an emerging body of work who shows the potential to have a significant career in the industry.
Finally, first time nominee, Stunt Performer and Samoan Ashlee Fidow took home the Queenstown Camera Company Craft Award.
Having worked on films ‘Mulan’, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’, Fidow thanked her family and friends for their support especially while she was recovering from a major injury. The Award recognises outstanding achievement in craft in film, TV or digital media production.
