A big congratulations to Becs Arahanga and Abba-Rose Dinah Vaiaoga-Ioasa (above right), who were both awarded the SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year at the recent Annual Screen Industry Awards. Congratulations also to our loyal sponsor Grant Baker, this year's Industry Champion.
Given the high calibre of nominations the judging panel decided to give not one, but two New Filmmaker awards. Here's a bit about these two amazing ladies:
Becs Arahanga (above left) has had a rapid rise as a writer, director, and now producer. Her debut short film Laundry was selected for the 2016 New Zealand International Film Festival Best Shorts, and the Show Me Shorts festival where it was nominated for four awards. She was one of nine women directors of the portmanteau feature film Vai, and her second short film Hinekura won the NZIFF Auckland Live Spirit of the Civic Award, the 2019 Audience Choice Award, and has been selected for multiple international festivals.
Becs is now working on Fox, a complex comedy pitched as a rural New Zealand Flea Bag.
Since entering the film industry in 2016 as an associate producer with Three Wise Cousins, Abba-Rose Dinah Vaiaoga-Ioasa has continued to achieve exponentially. Her feature Take Home Pay was the second-highest grossing New Zealand-made film in 2019, with $689,000 and $1.1million worldwide.
She is one of the few Pacific female producers working in the industry, especially in feature film.
Abba Rose created PISA - Pacific Island Screen Artists - to provide a voice for and meet the needs of Pacific Islanders working in the screen industry.