Miki Magasiva is the director, writer and producer of the new crowd-pleasing New Zealand drama Tinā, which is out now in theaters. Born in Lefagaoali’i, Samoa, Magasiva resides in New Zealand. Directing his first project in 2003, a set of award-winning ads, he continues to direct spots for major brands worldwide. In 2005, Magasiva was selected as a Breakthrough Young Director, representing Australasia at the AFEST film section, culminating in his first short film, Rites of Courage. He completed his second short film, Uso, the following year, when he was nominated for Best Script at the NZ Television Film Awards and won the Digital Dream Award at the Hawai’i International Film Festival. His short film Sina & Tuna, included in the Teine Sa (2021) television anthology, won Best Narrative Feature at the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. That same year, his work with The Panthers, New Zealand’s first-ever drama series to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), earned him Best Director: Drama/ Comedy at the NZ Television Awards. He collaborated with Indigenous filmmakers from New Zealand and Australia with the We Are Still Here (2022) feature film, opened the Sydney International Film Festival, screened at TIFF and won Best Dramatic Feature at imagineNATIVE. (Photo by Ryan Alexander Lloyd.)
