Anapela Polataivao ONZM

Bio

Anapela graduated from New Zealand’s leading Drama School: Toi Whakaari with a Bachelor of Arts Degree Majoring in Acting (BA) in 2002, since then she carved out a career not only in front of the camera but also for Theatre as an Actor, Producer & Director.

More recently (2023) Anapela has been recognised in this year's King's Birthday Honours for services to Pacific communities across Aotearoa. An actor, director, writer, and dramaturg, Polataivao's work has brought the voice of South Auckland women to stages and screens around the world.

Polataivao gained international acclaim for her performance in the short film Night Shift (2012) and won Best Actress in the 2018 Wellington Theatre Awards for her role in Tusiata Avia’s Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, which she also directed and then went on to make history in 2020 as the first Samoan woman to have directed a show off-Broadway when Wild Dogs Under My Skirt made its New York debut and was subsequently named the winner of the Fringe Encore Series at the SoHo Playhouse.

As co-founder of the Kila Kokonut Krew theatre collective in 2002, giving South Auckland performers a platform, Polataivao was named a New Generation Arts Laureate in 2014. She has directed multiple works, including Sole Mio’s original opera Alofagia: Le Opera and Tusiata Avia’s Wild Dogs Under My Skirt’, some of which have toured NZ, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2019, she received Creative NZ’s Pacific Contemporary Artist Award. Polataivao taught at the Pacific Institute of Pacific Arts, inspiring a new generation of performers, who have gone on to make a significant impact in the entertainment industry.

Screen highlights include feature films such as The Justice of Bunny King starring alongside Australian actor Essie Davis, One Thousand Ropes written & directed by Tusi Tamasese , The Changeover directed by Stuart McKenzie & Miranda Harcourt and New Zealand series such as Filthy Rich, Duckrockers & The Panthers which won 8 awards at this year’s NZ Film & Television Ceremony. Most recently Anapela starred in the Australian series The Messenger, Season 2 of Taika Waititi’s Our Flag Means Death for HBO Max and New Zealand feature film Tinā directed by Miki Magasiva playing the lead role of Mareta.