Biography

New Zealand born writer, director and editor, Hiona trained in classical theatre and spent her early years in performing arts. She directed her first stage play in Wellington at Taki Rua depot with a contemporary adaptation of Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov. She's credited as a writer and co-writer of four New Zealand stage plays and a producer of several international theatre and contemporary dance tours across Europe, Australasia, Asia and the US. She returned back to school and graduated from Southseas film school in Auckland and earned a master's degree in maori and indigenous studies at the university of Canterbury. She is a returning alumni of Berlinale talents and a graduate of the interdoc masterclass programme of Serbia. Her films are representative of 4th cinema and indigenous epistemology and have won several awards and accolades including a solid screen arts award in Australia, a special jury prize from the international oceanian documentary film festival in Tahiti and a screenwriting award from the New Zealand film commission. She is the writer and director of the Untold Tales Of Tuteremoana, a new fantasy trilogy series 100% in te reo Maori based on her own oral tribal histories. Hiona is protege of celebrated filmmakers Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Tusi Tamasese. She is developing her first feature film with dame Jane Campion.
- IMDb mini biography by: Kurahuapo Films