Taika Waititi
Also Known As: Taika David Cohen, 타이카 와이티티, Тайка Вайтіті, טאיקה וואיטיטי, טאיקה דייוויד כהן, تایکا وایتیتی
Biography: Taika David Cohen ONZM (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi (/ˈtaɪkəˈwaɪtɪti/ TY-kə WY-tee-tee), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is known for directing quirky comedy films and has expanded his career as a voice actor and producer on numerous projects. He has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. His feature films Boy (2010) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) have each been the top-grossing New Zealand film. Waititi's 2003 short film Two Cars, One Night earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. He co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows (2014) with Jemaine Clement, which was adapted into a television series of the same name in 2019. The series has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. His directing credits include the superhero films Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) as well as the black comedy film Jojo Rabbit (2019), the last of which he also wrote and starred in as an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler. Jojo Rabbit received six Academy Award nominations and won Best Adapted Screenplay. Waititi also earned a Grammy Award for producing the film's soundtrack. In television, Waititi co-created and produced the comedy-drama series Reservation Dogs and directed, produced, and starred in the comedy Our Flag Means Death. In addition to directing an episode of the series The Mandalorian, he also voiced the character IG-11, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. Description above from the Wikipedia article Taika Waititi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Department: Directing
Place of Birth: Wellington, New Zealand
Birthday: August 16, 1975
Adult: No
Gender: Male
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Known For:
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Overview: The extraordinary true story of eccentric British artist Louis Wain, whose playful, sometimes even psychedelic pictures helped to transform the public's perception of cats forever.
Genres: Drama History Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2021-10-21
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Lightyear
Overview: Legendary Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside a group of ambitious recruits and his robot companion Sox.
Genres: Animation Science Fiction Family Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2022-06-15
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Scarfies
Overview: This dark comedy is set in Dunedin, New Zealand. A university student finds an old "abandoned" house and proceeds to invite other students to share. It even has running electricity. But what is the catch?
Genres: Comedy Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1999-08-05
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Green Lantern
Overview: For centuries, a small but powerful force of warriors called the Green Lantern Corps has sworn to keep intergalactic order. Each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of the first human ever recruited.
Genres: Adventure Action Thriller Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2011-06-14
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The Suicide Squad
Overview: Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.
Genres: Action Comedy Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2021-07-28
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Boy
Overview: Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2010-03-25
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Celebrating Marvel's Stan Lee
Overview: Filmed in part in front of a live audience at The New Amsterdam Theater in New York City, this Stan Lee tribute takes viewers on an action-packed journey throughout the life of Lee and across the Marvel Universe, sharing never-before-seen interviews and archive footage with Lee himself from deep within the Marvel and ABC News archives.
Genres: Documentary Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2019-12-20
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Next Goal Wins
Overview: Dutch coach Thomas Rongen attempts the nearly impossible task of turning the American Samoa soccer team from perennial losers into winners.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2023-11-16
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Toy Boy
Overview: A couple buys a blow up doll as a joke, but soon the doll begins to reveal that it has a consciousness to one of the boyfriends, the man begins to have full on conversations with said blow up doll, leading the other boyfriend to think he has gone insane.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-07-20
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The Captain
Overview: A hungover plane captain wakes up to discover he's done a very bad thing.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2013-08-08
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What We Do in the Shadows
Overview: Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
Genres: Comedy Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2014-06-19
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Heinous Crime
Overview: Two players, one heinous crime to be revealed. Wellington Winner of 48 Hours Furious Filmmaking 2004.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-08-14
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Thor: Love and Thunder
Overview: After his retirement is interrupted by Gorr the God Butcher, a galactic killer who seeks the extinction of the gods, Thor Odinson enlists the help of King Valkyrie, Korg, and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who now wields Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor. Together they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.
Genres: Fantasy Action Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2022-07-06
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Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Thor: Love and Thunder
Overview: Settle in with the likes of Taika Waititi, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, and Tessa Thompson, and as they divulge the secrets behind the creation of Thor: Love and Thunder. Through in-depth interviews with cast and crew, along with raw, unseen footage from the set and beyond, this documentary special pulls back the curtain on the God of Thunder’s fourth feature film.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2022-09-08
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Eagle vs Shark
Overview: Love blossoms for Lily over double Meaty Boy burgers at mid-day when uber-computer nerd Jarrod comes in and leaves with free extra large fries. After gatecrashing Jarrod's party and proving her skills on the game console, Lily goes down to Jarrod's home town with him so he can settle an old score with a past school bully.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2007-07-15
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Tongan Ninja
Overview: The Tongan Ninja is dispatched to the island nation of New Zealand in order to help a brother of his master with his floundering Chinese restaurant. But the mysterious Mister Big stands in the eatery's way as he sends numerous villains such as Knife Man, Gun Man, and the super-sexy Action Fighter who may know a lot about the hero.
Genres: Action Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2002-11-08
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Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Overview: Ricky is a defiant young city kid who finds himself on the run with his cantankerous foster uncle in the wild New Zealand bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two are forced to put aside their differences and work together to survive.
Genres: Adventure Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2016-03-31
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Poi E: The Story of Our Song
Overview: Written and directed by Tearepa Kahi (Mt Zion) and starring Maaka Pohatu (The Modern Maori Quartet, Two Little Boys) the film tells the story of musician Dalvanius Prime and the origin of the song “Poi E”, a ground-breaking fusion of 1980s pop and traditional Māori music. “Poi E”, composed by Dalvanius and Ngoingoi Pēwhairangi and performed by the Patea Māori Club, remains the only song in Te Reo Māori to reach No 1 in the charts, over 30 years since its 1984 release.
Genres: Music Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2016-08-04
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What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires
Overview: Three vampires who share an apartment are interviewed by a TV crew.
Genres: Comedy Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-01-01
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Snakeskin
Overview: A hitchhiker takes two kids on the ride of their dreams, but they soon learn that their newfound hero is just as capable of delivering nightmares.
Genres: Adventure Fantasy Drama Action Comedy Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2001-10-01
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Frodo Is Great... Who Is That?!!
Overview: The documentary looks at the rise to celebrity status of NZ actor and musician Bret McKenzie, who appeared for 3 seconds as an extra in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", during the Council of Elrond scene. His brief appearance sparked a huge internet fan-base dedicated to his "brooding pout" and "elvish good looks". McKenzie has been dubbed "FIGWIT", an acronym of "Frodo is Great; Who is That!!?"
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2004-07-23
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Futile Attraction
Overview: A mockumentary about a film crew making a New Zealand reality television show about a couple brought together by a dating service. However due to their being incompatible, the film crew tries to manipulate them to get the film they want for the show.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-04-16
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Thor: Ragnarok
Overview: Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his home-world and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of a powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela.
Genres: Action Adventure Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2017-10-02
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Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss
Overview: A small-town couple finds the perfect apartment in the big city, except there's one catch: the apartment is home to the ritualistic suicides of a deranged cult.
Genres: Comedy Horror Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2020-03-06
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Jojo Rabbit
Overview: A World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.
Genres: Comedy War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2019-10-18
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Shrimp
Overview: Shrimp explores the strange, interwoven and often hilarious daily lives of the women and men who work and play in a Los Angeles BDSM den.
Genres: Drama Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2018-09-22
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Free Guy
Overview: A bank teller discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, and decides to become the hero of his own story. Now, in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way before it's too late.
Genres: Comedy Adventure Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2021-08-11
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Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen
Overview: This film is an intimate portrayal of pioneering filmmaker Merata Mita told through the eyes of her children. Using hours of archive footage, some never before seen, her youngest child and director Hepi Mita discovers the filmmaker he never knew and shares the mother he lost, with the world.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2019-01-28
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A New Way Home
Overview: An alcoholic man in a wheelchair kidnaps his daughter from his ex-wife.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2001-01-01
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Avengers: Endgame
Overview: After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.
Genres: Adventure Science Fiction Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2019-04-24
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Life of a Cantipanican
Overview: Zog the Alien goes about his daily routine ... until it is rudely interrupted by an unwanted guest.
Genres: Animation Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2019-01-05
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Falling Leaves
Overview: Falling Leaves is a heartfelt and quirky short film by Taika Waititi, blending his signature humor with poignant storytelling. Set in a small New Zealand town, the film explores themes of love, loss, and the passage of time through the eyes of its offbeat characters. With striking visuals and a tender yet comedic tone, Falling Leaves captures the bittersweet moments of life and human connection, offering a glimpse into Waititi's early creative brilliance.
Genres: Comedy Family Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-03-05
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