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Don Selwyn

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Don Selwyn
ONZM
Selwyn in 2002
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

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]

Life

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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]

Selwyn being conferred an honorary doctorate by Massey University chancellor Morva Croxson in May 2002, while vice-chancellor James McWha looks on

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]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ "Veteran Māori film-maker and actor Don Selwyn dies". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "Don Selwyn | Arts Foundation Icon". Arts Foundation. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b 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.
  11. ^ "Honorary degree citations". Massey University. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
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