Filmmaker Taika Waititi named New Zealander of the Year

Hunt For The Wilderpeople director Taika Waititi has been named as the 2017 New Zealander of the Year.
Waititi, 41, was unable to attend the awards ceremony at the Langham Hotel in Auckland on Wednesday (22Feb17), but sent a video message from Los Angeles, where he now lives.
“I just found out the news. Wow, amazing. Thank you so much. I couldn’t be more proud. It’s a privilege to receive this award and I accept it humbly and gratefully,” he said in his acceptance video broadcast on TVNZ. “I’m also a New Zealander, so I’m slightly embarrassed. But I’m getting over it.”
Joking that he needed rescuing from L.A., where he is a rising star in Hollywood, he added, “This is actually a cry for help, this video. I need you guys to come and get me, they won’t let me out.
“You know they wanted me to say that they’re treating me well. The meals are too big and everything’s too loud here, the accents, it’s horrible.”
Waititi may not be able to return to his homeland for a while yet as he is currently one of the industry’s most in demand young directors, having taken the reins on Marvel’s forthcoming superhero movie Thor: Ragnarok.
Earlier this month (Feb17), it was announced that he and Mark Gustafson would co-direct a stop-motion animation film about Bubbles, the pet chimpanzee owned by late pop superstar Michael Jackson.
The New Zealander of the Year award, sponsored by financial institution Kiwibank, has been presented to prominent citizens of the Pacific nation since 2010.
Previous winners include rugby superstar Richie McCaw and late physicist Paul Callaghan.