Lee Tamahori, director of Once Were Warriors and James Bond movie Die Another Day, dies aged 75
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New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori, seen here in 2016, dies at 75.
PHOTO: EPA
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WELLINGTON – New Zealand film-maker Lee Tamahori was described as a “classy and very clever” director on Nov 8 following his death aged 75.
Famed for directing the box-office hit Once Were Warriors (1994), Tamahori went on to forge a career in Hollywood and is regarded as among the most influential Maori figures in the entertainment industry.
Other films directed by him included the 2001 thriller Along Came A Spider and the Pierce Brosnan-Halle Berry James Bond film, Die Another Day, the following year.
A family statement said Tamahori died peacefully following a battle with Parkinson’s disease at his home on Nov 7.
Tamahori made a sensational feature film debut in 1994 with Once Were Warriors.
The adaptation of a novel by New Zealand author Alan Duff, it told a powerful and confronting story of an urban Maori family and its problems with poverty and violence.
The film remains among the highest-grossing New Zealand movies and won international accolades.
Kiwi actor Temuera Morrison, who played Jake, the film’s central figure, said Tamahori had an eye for movie-making that set him apart.
“He’s probably the best director that we’ve produced,” Morrison, 64, told Radio New Zealand on Nov 8. “I don’t think anyone surpasses his knowledge right throughout all facets of film-making. A classy and very clever director.
“And then just seeing the amount of Maori that went into the industry, the amount of Maori people he could cast now through his auditions. He was just an amazing man.” AFP
