Sima Urale
Encyclopedia
Sima Urale is a New Zealand
filmmaker who has won national and international awards. Her films explore social and political issues and have been screened worldwide. She is one of the few Polynesian
film directors in the world with more than 15 years in the industry. Her accolades include the Silver Lion
for Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival
for O Tamaiti (The Children) (1996).
in Samoa
. She grew up in a village with two brothers and three sisters. Her family immigrated to New Zealand in the 1970s where they lived in Wellington
. Her mother was a teacher and her father, a fisherman and a planter from a village, worked night shifts in a factory. Urale's siblings are also creative in the arts and media industry, an unconventional career for Polynesian
people in New Zealand. Her youngest brother grew up to become a well known rap artist in New Zealand, King Kapisi
, the first hip hop artist to be awarded the prestigious APRA Silver Scroll (New Zealand). Her sister Makerita Urale
is a producer and documentary filmmaker. Another brother Tati Urale is a senior producer at ONE News, Television New Zealand. Urale has collaborated creatively with her siblings. Urale directed the King Kapisi's first music video Sub-Cranium Feeling which was produced by her sister Makerita Urale. Filmed underwater, the music video won a number of Best Music Video awards including Flying Fish, BFM and TVNZ Mai Time. In 2003, Urale was presented with an award by New Zealand On Air
for contribution to music video making.
New Zealand Drama School where she had studied acting. She played the lead role of Ranevskaya, the matriarch in Chekov's The Cherry Orchard
in the final year graduation production. After two years acting in professional theatre in New Zealand, she studied filmmaking in Australia
at the Victorian College of the Arts
in Melbourne
. At film school, she won Student of the Year Award. In 1994, she graduated with a B.A. (Film & Television).
in Wellington and David Geary's play A Pack of Girls about a women's rugby
team. In 1995, she won Best Actor in a Support Role at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards
for her portrayal of Luisa in John Kneubuhl's
classic play, Think of a Garden directed by Nathaniel Lees
. In 1997 and 1999, she performed the role of Tivi in her sister Makerita Urale' vintage New Zealand play Frangipani Perfume, the first play written by a Pacific Island woman for an all female cast.
. O Tamaiti has been one of the most widely screened New Zealand films internationally and won Best Short Film at Asia Pacific Film Festival
, Chicago International Film Festival
and NZ Film and TV Awards.
Filmed in black and white and with barely a word of dialogue, it (O Tamaiti) showed cinema's ability to shift perceptions, if not mountains. Innovatively shot from the perspective of an 11-year-old Samoan boy called Tino, as he struggles to bring up his five siblings on a housing estate while his parents are busy making money and more babies.
TIME magazine, 2005
She directed the documentary Velvet Dreams which screened on the Work of Art series on TVNZ as well as film festivals. Velvet Dreams featured the work of New Zealand artist Charles McFee a painter of kitch velvet paintings portraying bare breasted South Seas maidens. It won Best Documentary, Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival (1997) in Canada
. In 2001, she wrote and directed the short film Still Life about an elderly couple dealing with euthanasia
. Still Life won Best Short Film at the Montreal Film Festival and a Special Recognition Awards at the Locarno Film Festival. She also directed Hip Hop NZ, a television documentary featuring the country's hip hop icons including Che Fu
, DLT (musician)
from Upper Hutt Posse
and Tha Feelstyle
. In 2008, she directed the short film Coffee and Allah which won a number of awards including Best Short Film at Cinema of Muslim Golden Minbar, RUSSIA. She directed the feature film Apron Strings (2008) produced by Rachel Gardner and written by Dianne Taylor and Schuchi Kothari. The film won Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Designer at the Qantas Film & TV Awards (2009).
! width="6%" | Year
! width="24%" | Title
! width="18%" | Credits
! width="36%" | Awards
! width="6%" | IMDB
|- valign="top"
|2008
|Apron Strings (feature film)
|Director
|World Premiere 2008 Toronto Film Festival; 2009 Qantas Film & TV Awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematographer, Best Production Design;2008 Women in Film & TV International: Diversity Award
|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881549/
|- valign="top"
|2008
|Coffee and Allah (short film)
|Director
|2008 Best Short Film: Vladivostok Film Festival (Russia), Hawai'i International Film Festival, Cinema of Muslim Golden Minbar (Russia), 2009 Marin County International Film Festival (USA)
|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881549/
|- valign="top"
|2001
|Still Life (short film)
|Director, Writer
|2001 Best Short Film: Montreal Film Festival, Best Director & Best Screenplay: Drifting Clouds Film Festival (NZ), Special Recognition: Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland)
|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881549/
|- valign="top"
|1997
|Velvet Dreams (documentary)
|Director
|Best Documentary: 1997 Golden Sheaf Award: Yorkton Film Festival (Canada)
|
|- valign="top"
|1996
|O Tamaiti (The Children) (short film)
|Director, Writer
|Silver Lion Best Short Film: Venice Film Festival
;Silver Plaque Best Short Film: Chicago International Film Festival
; Special Recognition Award: Aspen Film Festival (USA), 1996 Best Short Film:Asia Pacific Film Festival
, Newport Beach Film Festival
, New Zealand Film & TV Awards;Best Screenplay, Flickerfest (Australia)
|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881549/
|}
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
filmmaker who has won national and international awards. Her films explore social and political issues and have been screened worldwide. She is one of the few Polynesian
Polynesians
The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...
film directors in the world with more than 15 years in the industry. Her accolades include the Silver Lion
Silver Lion
The Leone d’Argento refers to a number of awards presented at the Venice Film Festival. The Silver Lion is awarded irregularly and have gone through several changes of purpose. Until 1995, Silver Lions were infrequently awarded to a number of films as second prize for those nominated for the...
for Best Short Film at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
for O Tamaiti (The Children) (1996).
Personal life
Urale was born on the island of Savai'iSavai'i
Savaii is the largest and highest island in Samoa and the Samoa Islands chain. It is also the biggest landmass in Polynesia outside Hawaii and New Zealand. The island of Savai'i is also referred to by Samoans as Salafai, a classical Samoan term used in oratory and prose...
in Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
. She grew up in a village with two brothers and three sisters. Her family immigrated to New Zealand in the 1970s where they lived in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
. Her mother was a teacher and her father, a fisherman and a planter from a village, worked night shifts in a factory. Urale's siblings are also creative in the arts and media industry, an unconventional career for Polynesian
Polynesians
The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...
people in New Zealand. Her youngest brother grew up to become a well known rap artist in New Zealand, King Kapisi
King Kapisi
King Kapisi is a New Zealand Hip hop recording artist. He was the first Hip hop artist in New Zealand to receive the prestigious Silver Scroll Award at the APRA Awards for Songwriter of the Year for his single Reverse Resistance in 1999, which followed on the popular release of his debut single...
, the first hip hop artist to be awarded the prestigious APRA Silver Scroll (New Zealand). Her sister Makerita Urale
Makerita Urale
Makerita Urale is a documentary director and a leading figure in contemporary Polynesian theatre in New Zealand. She has produced landmark productions in the performing arts. She is also a playwright. She is the writer of the play Frangipani Perfume, the first Pacific play written by a woman for an...
is a producer and documentary filmmaker. Another brother Tati Urale is a senior producer at ONE News, Television New Zealand. Urale has collaborated creatively with her siblings. Urale directed the King Kapisi's first music video Sub-Cranium Feeling which was produced by her sister Makerita Urale. Filmed underwater, the music video won a number of Best Music Video awards including Flying Fish, BFM and TVNZ Mai Time. In 2003, Urale was presented with an award by New Zealand On Air
New Zealand On Air
NZ On Air is an independent New Zealand broadcast funding agency. It is an autonomous crown entity separate from central Government and governed by a Board of six appointed by the Minister of Broadcasting...
for contribution to music video making.
Graduate
In 1989, Urale graduated from Toi WhakaariToi Whakaari
Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is New Zealand's National Drama School. It is located in Wellington, New Zealand Toi Whakaari offers training in Acting, Directing, Costume Construction, Entertainment Technology, Performing Arts Management and Design for Stage & Screen.The School offers the following...
New Zealand Drama School where she had studied acting. She played the lead role of Ranevskaya, the matriarch in Chekov's The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
in the final year graduation production. After two years acting in professional theatre in New Zealand, she studied filmmaking in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
at the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. At film school, she won Student of the Year Award. In 1994, she graduated with a B.A. (Film & Television).
Theatre
As an actor, Urale performed in professional theatre in New Zealand for two years and toured nationally in European and Māori theatre productions including Taming of the Shrew at Downstage TheatreDownstage Theatre
The Downstage Theatre is a theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, and the country's longest running professional theatre, established in 1964.The founders at the inaugural meeting in the Wellington Public Library on 15 May 1964 were actors Peter Bland, Tim Elliott and Martyn Sanderson, with...
in Wellington and David Geary's play A Pack of Girls about a women's rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team. In 1995, she won Best Actor in a Support Role at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards
Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards
The Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards are the theatre "Oscars" in New Zealand and honour the best stage talent and productions in the capital Wellington....
for her portrayal of Luisa in John Kneubuhl's
John Kneubuhl
John Kneubuhl was an American Samoan screenwriter, playwright and Polynesian historian. He wrote for American television series such as The Fugitive, Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West, Star Trek, The Invaders and Hawaii Five-O...
classic play, Think of a Garden directed by Nathaniel Lees
Nathaniel Lees
Nathaniel Lees is a New Zealand born actor and theatre director of Samoan descent. He is known for his role as Captain Mifune in The Matrix trilogy and his role as "Uglúk" in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. He has also had roles on the TV series Young Hercules, Hercules: The Legendary...
. In 1997 and 1999, she performed the role of Tivi in her sister Makerita Urale' vintage New Zealand play Frangipani Perfume, the first play written by a Pacific Island woman for an all female cast.
Career
Urale has worked in the film industry for more than 15 years. She has written and directed her own films, as well as documentaries, music videos and television commercials. Her films have been screened worldwide and have received international acclaim. Her first screenplay was the short film O Tamaiti which she also directed. The producer was Kara Paewai and the film was financially backed by New Zealand Film CommissionNew Zealand Film Commission
The New Zealand Film Commission is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films...
. O Tamaiti has been one of the most widely screened New Zealand films internationally and won Best Short Film at Asia Pacific Film Festival
Asia Pacific Film Festival
The Asia Pacific Film Festival, first held in 1954, is film festival held annually in an Asian country designated by the Board of Directors of the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific.Awards are handed out for:*Best Film*Best Director...
, Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
and NZ Film and TV Awards.
Filmed in black and white and with barely a word of dialogue, it (O Tamaiti) showed cinema's ability to shift perceptions, if not mountains. Innovatively shot from the perspective of an 11-year-old Samoan boy called Tino, as he struggles to bring up his five siblings on a housing estate while his parents are busy making money and more babies.
TIME magazine, 2005
She directed the documentary Velvet Dreams which screened on the Work of Art series on TVNZ as well as film festivals. Velvet Dreams featured the work of New Zealand artist Charles McFee a painter of kitch velvet paintings portraying bare breasted South Seas maidens. It won Best Documentary, Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival (1997) in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 2001, she wrote and directed the short film Still Life about an elderly couple dealing with euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
. Still Life won Best Short Film at the Montreal Film Festival and a Special Recognition Awards at the Locarno Film Festival. She also directed Hip Hop NZ, a television documentary featuring the country's hip hop icons including Che Fu
Che Fu
Che Fu MNZM is a New Zealand Hip hop/R&B and Reggae recording artist and producer. Originally one part of the band Supergroove, as a solo artist he has gone on to sell thousands of albums both in New Zealand and internationally, including in Australia and the UK.-History:Fu is one of New Zealand's...
, DLT (musician)
DLT (musician)
DLT is a New Zealand DJ, music producer, composer & artist. Born Darryl Thompson in Maraenui, New Zealand.DLT was inspired by an article about rap and breakdancing in Life magazine when he was 16 years of age; he moved to Wellington in the '80s and established himself as a graffiti artist known as...
from Upper Hutt Posse
Upper Hutt Posse
Upper Hutt Posse is a musical band in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The progenitors of Hiphop music in the South Pacific originally formed as a four piece reggae group in 1985, the Posse emerged at the forefront of the local response to emerging rap culture...
and Tha Feelstyle
Tha Feelstyle
Tha Feelstyle is the stage name of award winning hip hop artist Kas Futialo, a New Zealander of Samoan descent. His first album was Break It To Pieces in 2004. Tha Feelstyle was born in Samoa and moved to New Zealand in the 1980s...
. In 2008, she directed the short film Coffee and Allah which won a number of awards including Best Short Film at Cinema of Muslim Golden Minbar, RUSSIA. She directed the feature film Apron Strings (2008) produced by Rachel Gardner and written by Dianne Taylor and Schuchi Kothari. The film won Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Designer at the Qantas Film & TV Awards (2009).
Other awards
- 2006 Creative New ZealandCreative New ZealandThe Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets and audiences for New Zealand arts domestically and internationally...
Pacific Innovation & Excellence Award - 2004 Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writers' Residency at the University of Hawai'i
Filmography
{| class={| class="wikitable sortable"! width="6%" | Year
! width="24%" | Title
! width="18%" | Credits
! width="36%" | Awards
! width="6%" | IMDB
|- valign="top"
|2008
|Apron Strings (feature film)
|Director
|World Premiere 2008 Toronto Film Festival; 2009 Qantas Film & TV Awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematographer, Best Production Design;2008 Women in Film & TV International: Diversity Award
|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881549/
|- valign="top"
|2008
|Coffee and Allah (short film)
|Director
|2008 Best Short Film: Vladivostok Film Festival (Russia), Hawai'i International Film Festival, Cinema of Muslim Golden Minbar (Russia), 2009 Marin County International Film Festival (USA)
|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881549/
|- valign="top"
|2001
|Still Life (short film)
|Director, Writer
|2001 Best Short Film: Montreal Film Festival, Best Director & Best Screenplay: Drifting Clouds Film Festival (NZ), Special Recognition: Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland)
|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881549/
|- valign="top"
|1997
|Velvet Dreams (documentary)
|Director
|Best Documentary: 1997 Golden Sheaf Award: Yorkton Film Festival (Canada)
|
|- valign="top"
|1996
|O Tamaiti (The Children) (short film)
|Director, Writer
|Silver Lion Best Short Film: Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
;Silver Plaque Best Short Film: Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
; Special Recognition Award: Aspen Film Festival (USA), 1996 Best Short Film:Asia Pacific Film Festival
Asia Pacific Film Festival
The Asia Pacific Film Festival, first held in 1954, is film festival held annually in an Asian country designated by the Board of Directors of the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific.Awards are handed out for:*Best Film*Best Director...
, Newport Beach Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
The Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California, that showcases more than 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually....
, New Zealand Film & TV Awards;Best Screenplay, Flickerfest (Australia)
|http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0881549/
|}