The best Taika Waititi’s documentary movies
Taika David Cohen ONZM (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi /ˈtaɪkə waɪˈtiːti/, is a New Zealand film and television director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and comedian. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. His feature films Boy (2010) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) have each been the top-grossing New Zealand film.
Waititi's 2004 short film Two Cars, One Night earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. He co-directed and starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows (2014) with Jemaine Clement, which was adapted into a television series of the same name (2019–present). The series has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. His most recent directing credits include the superhero film Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and the black comedy film Jojo Rabbit (2019), the latter of which he also wrote and starred in as an "imaginary Hitler". Jojo Rabbit received six Academy Award nominations and won for Best Adapted Screenplay. Furthermore, Waititi earned a Grammy Award for producing the film's soundtrack. In addition to directing an episode of the television series The Mandalorian (2019–present), he also voices the character IG-11, for which he garnered a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.
Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen
7.7/10
A documentary portrait of the pioneering indigenous filmmaker and activist Merata Mita and an intimate tribute from a son about his mother that delves into the life of the first woman from an Indigenous Nation to solely direct a film anywhere in the world. Known as the grandmother of Indigenous cinema, Merata’s independent political documentaries of the 1970s and 80s highlighted injustices for Māori people and often divided the country. Mita was fearless in her life, her activism and her art. Chronicling the director’s journey to decolonize the film and television screens of New Zealand and the world, the film documents her work, her early struggles with her family and her drive for social justice that often proved personally dangerous.
Poi E: The Story of Our Song
7.6/10
Written and directed by Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion) and starring Maaka Pohatu (The Modern Maori Quartet, Two Little Boys) the film tells the story of musician Dalvanius Prime and the origin of the song “Poi E”, a ground-breaking fusion of 1980s pop and traditional Māori music. “Poi E”, composed by Dalvanius and Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi and performed by the Patea Māori Club, remains the only song in Te Reo Māori to reach No 1 in the charts, over 30 years since its 1984 release.
Inside Jojo Rabbit
Behind the scenes of Taika Waititi's 2019 film "Jojo Rabbit" featuring interviews, footage from set and clips
