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New Zealand actor and filmmaker From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Selwyn in 2002 | |
| Born | Don Charles Selwyn 22 November 1935 Taumarunui, New Zealand |
| Died | 13 April 2007 (aged 71) Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, filmmaker |
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 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] He was conferred an honorary DLit degree by Massey University in 2002.[11] 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]
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