Don Selwyn

Don Charles Selwyn ONZM (22 November 1935 – 13 April 2007) was a Māori actor and filmmaker from New Zealand. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Māori Theatre Trust and directed the 2002 film Te tangata whai rawa o Weneti (The Maori merchant of Venice), the first Māori language feature film with English subtitles.[1]

Don Selwyn

ONZM
Born
Don Charles Selwyn

(1935-11-22)22 November 1935
Taumarunui, New Zealand
Died13 April 2007(2007-04-13) (aged 71)
Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation(s)Actor, filmmaker

Life

Born of Ngāti Kurī and Te Aupōuri descent, Selwyn grew up in Taumarunui and began his professional life as a teacher.

In 1967 Selwyn acted in The Golden Lover at Downstage Theatre directed by Richard Campion alongside Wi Kuki Kaa and Bob Hirini.[2] Also on stage produced by Downstage Theatre and directed by Campion and designed by Raymond Boyce, Selwyn was in Othello with a cast of 17 including Peter Vere-Jones and Elric Hooper in 1976. It was so popular it transferred to the Opera House.[2] He appeared in an episode of Ngaio Marsh Theatre in 1977. In 1984 he began a film and television training course for Māori and Pacific Islanders He Taonga i Tawhiti (Gifts from Afar).[3] In 1992 Ruth Kaupua Panapa and Selwyn co-founded He Taonga Films.[4]

Te tangata whai rawa o Weneti (The Maori merchant of Venice) (2002) directed by Selwyn was the first Māori language feature film, it was produced by He Taonga Films. He had previously staged it as a play in 1990 at the Koanga Festival.[5][6] It had been translated from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice by Pei Te Hurinui Jones in 1945.[7][8] The film was produced to upskill Māori in the film industry.[9]

In 2003 at the New Zealand Film Awards Selwyn was presented with a lifetime achievement award.[4] In 2007 the Arts Foundation of New Zealand selected him for an Icon Award, which was awarded to him privately shortly before he died.[3]

In the 1999 New Year Honours, Selwyn was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to theatre, film and television.[10]

Selected filmography

References
  1. "Veteran Māori film-maker and actor Don Selwyn dies". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  2. Smythe, John (2004). Downstage upfront: the first 40 years of New Zealand's longest-running professional theatre. Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-0-86473-489-1. OCLC 474403154.
  3. "Don Selwyn | Arts Foundation Icon". Arts Foundation. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  4. Forster, Tony (27 March 2014). "Don Selwyn honoured again". SCREENZ. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  5. "Feature film". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  6. "Iconic Maori Film Screens in Hamilton". Scoop News. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  7. "Pei Te Hurinui Jones". Komako. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  8. "Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti (The Maori Merchant of Venice)". MIT Global Shakespeares. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  9. "He Tangata Whai Rawa o Weneti / The Māori Merchant of Venice". ngataonga.org.nz. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  10. "New Year honours list 1999". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 1998. Retrieved 31 August 2019.


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